Star's Hero
by The achievement hunter guy
Summary: When the princess of Mewni runs away from home, she meets the quiet boy Marco Diaz. Little does she know that this boy is the greatest warrior the world has ever seen. StarxMarco
1. Same morning, different worlds

Chapter 1: Same morning, different worlds

*beep**beep**beep*

I turned off the alarm clock and leisurely got out of bed. I hate Mondays. I hate week days in general. I slowly walked to the bathroom as my eyes tried to get used to the sunlight beaming threw the windows in the hallway. Daylight savings time was yesterday, so now instead of it being dark due to the sun not being up, it's now bright as hell.

When I get into the bathroom, I close the curtains and start the shower. While the shower runs I put toothpaste on my toothbrush and start to undress. When I'm done I get in the shower, don't worry I'm not gonna describe my showering process. I take my time in there being as I don't want to go to school. Besides the fact that school is boring as hell, I'm an outcast.

Eversince I was in kindergarten, I've always been somewhat of an introvert, someone who wants to be alone. I never went to parties, I never went to pep rallies and I never went to school dances or after school activities, which some of the kids picked up on. Soon people started calling me weird and a freak, all because I want to be alone.

It didn't help that I'm also known as the "safe" kid at school, which pretty much ruins my chances with every girl at school, but to be honest, I only have eyes for one girl at school, and that's Jackie Lynn Thomas. I was head over heels in love with her, she was the only person I wouldn't mind spending time with, and the whole "safe kid" thing isn't gonna help her fall for me anytime soon. I try not to think about it though, and let's face it, I don't have a chance with Jackie.

I turned the shower off, rap a towel around me, and head to my room. I decided to wear my "I kissed a ninja" shit today at school. Sure it's pretty nerdy, but I wear it with pride, even though I wear my signature red hoodie over it. I don't even bother brushing my hair, seeing as I don't really care about my appearance. Most people take hours to do their hair, but I just straighten it out and that's good enough for me. I'm not much of a looker anyway.

I decided not to eat breakfast today and walk to school instead of taking the bus. I enjoyed the peace and quiet of the beautiful day, I don't understand how people would want to drive on a day like this. As I was walking, the school bus drove past me. I heard someone yell, "LOSER!", and in a matter of seconds, I felt a hard object collide with my face, taking me down. I heard laughing as the school bus passed. I groaned as I got to my feet, and I realized that the object thrown at me was a baseball.

I wasn't really mad or anything, it was something I come to expect.

(third person POV in the Butterfly palace)

"Miss Butterfly, are you awake?, a servant asked from outside her door. It was silent for a minute until he heard, "WELL I AM NOW!" The servant cowered in fear even though she was on the other side of the door.

"I…I apologize your highness. P…please forgive me", he said nervously. It was silent again until he heard a sigh, "it's fine. Come on in Willam I'm not mad".

The servant slowly opened entered the room and saw that the princess was standing up and looking in her mirror. She saw his reflection in the mirror and turned to face her servant, "what did you need?", she asked grumpily.

The servant kept his distance from her and said, "y-your parents asked me to come and get you. They want to meet you in the dining room for a very important announcement.", he explained. The princess sighed and then chuckled, "Probably to lecture me about being a proper princess again. Okay William wait outside so I can change." "Yes Miss Butterfly", the servant said as he walked out the room.

Once he was gone, the princess took off her shirt and bra to let her…unaturals breathe. She looked at her grandfather clock and saw that it was 6:30 am. "What on earth could my parents want this early in the morning?", she said to herself.

She looked through her huge closet, that was miles long, to find her favorite dress. She finally found it all the way in the back of the closet. "Why the heck do I keep putting this back?", she asked herself. She put on the dress, which was her favorite shade of blue, and brushed her hair. While most princesses spend hours doing their hair, this princess only needed to do 5 strokes and her hair was perfect.

After that she put a little bit of makeup on her cheeks. It was all she really needed. She then grabbed her practice wand, that her mother gave her so she could practice her magic, and just like that she was ready for the day.

She walked out the door and William began to lead her to the dining room. "You know you don't have to walk me there William, I know my way to my own dining room.", the princess said grumpily.

"I know ma'am, but I…" "If your going to talk to me, could you please address me by name.", the princess interrupted him.

"I'm very sorry Star, but anyway, your parents wanted me to escort you to the dining room so you don't get distracted. You know how easily you get distracted right?", he said.

Star rolled her eyes, "My parents don't give me enough credit. I can take care of myself", she said getting frustrated.

"Well…you did set the royal palace on fire about five times.", said William.

"It was only four! And how am I supposed to know that lighting a match in a room full of gas would result in the palace blowing up?"

"Well, it's common science…", William started to say, but stopped when he saw the look Star was giving him.

"Sorry Star", he said. Star sighed, "it's not your fault, I just wish that my parents would let that go and start to take me seriously. I'm not a kid anymore and I think I'm ready to have a _real_ wand. Not this piece of crap that only lets me do 5 fucking spells!", Star said getting really mad.

"If it means anything, I think you've really matured since the last time you burned down the palace", William said with a smile.

Star chuckled, "thanks William that means a lot". Once they reached the dining room, William opened the door for her and Star saw her parents Queen and King butterfly.

She rolled her eyes and got ready to hear another boring lecture. What she didn't know, was that this was gonna be far from an ordinary lecture.

Authors note: No this is not the sequel to "to end all Drama" (I'm working on it). Sorry the first chapter is a little short but this is basically to get a feel of Star and Marco's personalities and lives in this story. Next chapter, things will start to get interesting. Please review!


	2. Difference

Once Marco got to school, he sat on a bench outside by himself. All around him, people were talking about some sort of dance that was coming up. He wasn't exactly sure what the occasion was, it wasn't Valentine's Day and he was almost certain it wasn't homecoming.

He saw boys asking girls out and he noticed the women were wearing pretty dresses and flirting with guys. Marco felt uncomfortable seeing all of this happen. For one, it was extremely load, and second, he didn't really like the love fest being shown. Being the type of person he was, he didn't care about the dance all that much.

When couples started kissing, he decided to just head into the school early. Anything was better than watching a dozen couples french kiss. Once he got in the school though, he bumped into someone. Marco collided with a tall boy who was wearing a Echo Creek High letterman jacket. He was muscular and had dark sunglasses.

After recovering from the collision, Marco mumbled a "sorry" and continued on his way. Before he could get anywhere else, the guy grabbed his hood and turned him around. The boy glared at him with an intense look, but then he smirked when he realized who this was.

"Well, well, well, Marco Diaz. The loser loner of Echo Creek", the guy said grimly. Marco tried to walk away, but the guy wouldn't let go of his hood.

Marco groaned and quietly said, "What do you want man?" The guy didn't answer and in a blink of an eye he punched Marco in the stomach.

Marco bent over in pain and the boy kicked him in the mouth. "Stay down you little bitch.", the guy said coldly.

Marco Diaz was many things, but he wasn't a bitch. He started to get up again but the guy once again punched him in the face. Marco tried to get up again but he was once again kept down my the guy's fist.

"Jeremy! That's enough!" Marco looked up to see Jackie Lynn Thomas holing the boy, who he now knew his name was Jeremy, back.

"Oh come on Jackie, don't stick up for this freak", Jeremy said spitting at Marco. When Marco tried to get up again, Jeremy once again kicked him.

Enough was enough, Jackie punched Jeremy in the eye which caused him to fall on the ground. Jackie stood over Jeremy and said, "Stay away from him! Got it?"

Jeremy nodded in fear. Although she didn't look like it, Jackie Lynn Thomas packed one hell of a punch. Jeremy got up and walked away, but not before sending a cold glare to Marco. As soon as he was out of his sight. Marco started to walk away. Jackie soon caught up with him, "Dude are you okay?", she asked him.

He nodded, not really paying attention to her. Jackie grabbed him by his arm, stopping him in his tracks. She inspected his face and cringed when she saw blood starting to come from a cut in his cheek.

"Does that hurt at all?", she asked. Marco shook his head. "Well we still have to get you to the nurse. Come on", she said taking his hand. Now normally Marco would ditch this person and head to the nurse on his own, but this was Jackie Lynn Thomas. Marco couldn't ditch her, she was to perfect for that.

(In the Butterfly palace)

"Wait…say that again", Star said befuddled. King Butterfly sighed and said, "We have arranged your marriage Star."

Star was once again silent. Arranged marriage? They can do that!? I didn't even know you could do that in Mewni!

"But, why? I'm only fourteen, I haven't even thought about marriage yet", Star asked confused.

"I told you she would have questions", the king said turning to his wife. The queen started to explain, "Star darling, before you know it, it will be time for you to take the throne and rule the kingdom. You know that right."

Star nodded.

"Well it's come to our attention that you might not yet be suited for the crown", her mother said.

"What do you mean? I'm totally prepared to be queen…ok maybe I need a little more preparation, but I'm near ready to be queen", Star said unconvincingly. She didn't even believe herself.

The King and Queen looked at each other and then back at Star. They were not convinced. The Queen spoke up, "Star, it is obvious to everyone in the family, and maybe even the kingdom, that you simply can't handle being the ruler of Mewni.", she said.

"But, where going to change that.", Queen Butterfly said.

Star was really nervous now, "W-What do you mean?", she asked. "And who exactly did you arrange for me to marry?"

The King and Queen were silent once again. "Who is it?", Star asked raising her voice. The two knew they had to confess to their daughter of what they have done.

"Star…we only did it because we love you…", the king started but was soon cut of by his daughter. "Who. Did. You. Arrange. For. Me. To. Mary.", Star asked once again.

With one word, Star's whole world was destroyed when her mother said one name, "Tom."

The hearts on Star's cheeks broke and her eyes went gray. Her mouth dropped to the ground and and her eyes went gray.

Tom was Star's ex boyfriend, and let's just say they ended on bad terms.

Their relationship started off great, they were both happy and they promised they would marry as soon as they were eighteen. It all was going well until one day, Tom changed. He suddenly became very possessive of Star, and never let her go out with any of her friends. Every guy that even looked at her was immediately beaten up by Tom, or even worse, critically injured. Tom's recent change was confusing to Star, but it wasn't enough for her to break up with him. She wasn't gonna break up with a guy she knew so well just because of a bizarre attitude change.

Soon, Tom did get better and he apologized to all those boys he put in the hospital. Sure it didn't fix their injuries, but at least it was something right? Star and Tom went back to being the happy couple they were; it felt like everything was back to normal. That was until they went back to Star's home one night. The two planned to watch a movie and fall asleep in each other's arms, Star suggested it. Before they started the movie, Star took a quick trip to the bathroom.

When she returned she saw something that still haunted her to this day. Tom was pouring a test tube of an odd potion into Star's punch. Tom was confronted by an angry Star butterfly, who's eyes were the color of red jewels burning in lava. Tom stuttered and tried to smooth talk his way out of it, but Star could not be easily fooled.

Soon Tom admitted to what he was during. Tom, like Star, was next in line to become to the throne. He was on his way to becoming king of the underworld. All he needed was to get the person he loved to drink this potion. The potion would make that person totally devoted to him. It would make that person wait on him hand and foot. His blood would've made her his slave.

Tom tried to say that the blood would make their relationship even stronger, but Star wouldn't go for it. This made Tom angry again. He forced Star to the floor and tried to force her to drink the potion, but Star, being a skilled fighter, fought her way out of Tom's attack and punched him in face, grabbed the punch that Tom poured the potion into and threw it in his face. Before Tom could even react, Star froze him in a block of ice.

Needless to say, she broke up with Tom after that. And no her parents were arranging her marriage with that psycho!?

"No, I'm not doing it! You can't make me!", she yelled and ran for the door. "Star lets us expla…", the King was interrupted when the whole room was set on fire. A door magically opened in mid air and out walk the man in question, Tom.

Tom was taller than before, he wore a black suit, his hair was longer, and his voice was deeper, "Star, I recommend you listen to your parents. I'm sure it will convince you to give me another chance", he said menacingly.

Star backed away from him, although she didn't show it, she was very afraid of him. She turned to her parents, "Okay than, explain."

To be continued…

Authors note: Sorry that it's a bit short. Jeremy is 15 in this story.

"They said to stay away, and now I wish I had. I'm so in love with you, my silly girl"-Milo.


	3. Issues

Jackie had dragged Marco to the nurses office. Even the nurse cringed at the the cut on his cheek and the blood gushing out of it. It was so bad that he needed stitches to close the gap he hap in his cheek.

After the nurse did the final stick, she handed him a mirror so he could see it. "I don't wanna see it", he said without even looking at her. The nurse shrugged and put the mirror down. "I'm going to go call your mother, she might want to know about this", she said. Marco was silent. The nurse left the room, but Marco was only alone for a couple of seconds before Jackie Lynn Thomas came in.

She cringed at the scar, "Damn, Jeremy's shoe really did a number on your face.", she said. Marco was again silent. Jackie sat next to him on the hospital bed, "How come you don't wanna talk? You pissed off at Jeremy?", she asked. Marco spoke quietly, "I don't like to talk." His voice was really soft, but Jackie still heard him. Jackie smiled a little, "You don't have to talk then."

"I just wanted to ask you why you kept getting up. If you would've stayed down he probably would've left you alone.", she said. Marco mumbled something under his breath that Jackie couldn't hear.

"Could you say that again?", she asked.

Marco once again talked quietly, but Jackie could hear him this time, "I wasn't gonna give him the satisfaction of seeing me cowering like a…coward."

Jackie smiled and nodded, "I guess I understand that…but I still think your fucking crazy." Marco's expression softened a bit, he didn't smile, but you could tell the difference. "You know I see you around school and your always by yourself. How about you hang out with me and friends at lunch?", she suggested.

Marco shrugged, "Maybe I will, maybe I won't."

Jackie shrugged, "Well if you decide to eat with me and my friends, just look for us ok". She got up and walked out the room. She waved goodbye to him before she closed the door.

Finally alone, Marco felt the stitches on his face with his hand. It felt odd. It was like he had grown alligator skin. It was a weird feeling, but Marco kinda liked it.

The thought that these little black stitches were the only thing that kept blood from pouring from his cheek just game him a cozy feeling, but at the same time, he just wanted them gone.

He went over and grabbed the mirror the nurse had offered him. It was a small line of stiches, probably about five or six. He felt then again, feeling the rough pattern on his face. Even though they felt nice, in his mind at least, it made his face look even uglier. He already wasn't much of a looker but those stiches made his face into a whole other level of ugly.

The cozy feeling the stiches gave him were gone and now all Marco wanted to do, was get them off. So he decided to do something that would get them off a his face.

He looked around and saw a scalpel the nurse had on a tray, he grabbed it and aimed it toward his cheek. He took a deep breath, but before he could do anything, the nurse came back in the office.

"What are you doing ?", the nurse asked alarmed. Marco didn't panic, he just slowly put down the scalpel and mirror. "I'm not doing anything ma'am.", Marco said in his normal monotone voice.

The nurse relaxed a bit, but Marco could sense that she was still cautious. "Well your mother said that you could go home if you want, but your free to stay at school.", she said.

Marco shook his head, "No, it's fine, I can handle a little injury. Besides, I have plans to meet someone for lunch.", he said. The nodded, "Well hurry on back to class then, I'll sign you out."

As Marco excited the room, he muttered, "Dammit, now I'm stuck with this hideous scar."

* * *

"Okay then, explain.", Star said crossing her arms.

The King and Queen looked at each other as if they were coming up with a lie.

"Well honey", The King started, "Tom came to us practically begging to see you. Of course we denied which only made him beg even more so…

"Stop. Just stop right there.", Star said cutting her father off. "I know Tom more than one on this earth. I know a lot about his family and their legacy." She paused, as if she was trying to keep her composure.

"Tom's comes from a long line of fighters, warriors, heroes, dictators, hitmen, and even doctors. If theirs anything this _parasite_ wouldn't do, it's beg. He wouldn't want to disappoint his family."

The King was quiet again, knowing he was caught in a lie.

Star turned around and glared at Tom. Tom's confident demeanor was shattered, he flinched at the look Star was giving him. Let's just say that if looks could kill, Tom's skin would have burned off and his soul would've tortured for all eternity.

It didn't help that Star called him a parasite either. They way she said it gave the demon chills.

"If you truly loved me, you would be able to tell me the truth you worthless piece of trash.", Star said, her eyes starting to turn red. She then turned to her parents, "And what's your excuse huh? You think I'm too irresponsible to know the truth!? You think I'm too stupid to understand!?

At this point, her parents realized that Star was about to crack, it was like a ticking time bomb was about to detonate.

"Star, do you really want the truth?", her mother asked.

Star nodded her head slowly, finally starting to calm down a little bit.

"Me and your father, along with Tom's parents and Tom himself, arranged this marriage a long time ago.", the Queen said.

Star completely stopped. It was like her whole body shut down, her heart, her mind, her lungs, everything had stopped. "How long ago?", she asked.

"About a month before you and Tom met.", the Queen answered.

Star fell to her knees. _"That was two years ago",_ she thought, _"They planned my wedding two years ago?"_

"Star, we love you honey, but you are very irresponsible and reckless, we needed to find someone who would be perfect for you and keep you in line. Someone you would be happy with, someone who would mold you into the princess we need you to be.", the King explained.

"Tom also needed a wife, but for a different reason. As you know, Tom is a demon so he needed a mate before he could become king, so his family made a deal with us, to let you fall in love with Tom and you two would rule Mewni.", The queen finished.

Star's eyes were not red anymore, but they were a cold blue, the normal hearts on her cheeks turned into ice picks.

"So you've basically planned out my whole adult life right? You can't trust me enough to believe that I could choose my own husband? You don't think I could pick a responsible man to help me rule the kingdom? Do you have that little faith in me!?", Star said, her voice getting louder by the minute.

Tom made the bold move of putting her hand on Star's shoulder, "Relax honey, it's what's best for the kingdom. It's not like you could rule the kingdom on your…", he stopped talking as Star grabbed his hand with a death grip.

Tom was in so much pain he crippled on the floor, "L-Let g-go…p-please", he begged.

Star hated hurting people, but this parasite deserved it.

"Star! Let go of him immediately!", her mother demanded, "This is why you couldn't rule on you own!" Her mother immediately covered her mouth realizing that she might have caused the fire in Star to get hotter.

Star let go of Tom's arm and turned to her mother, "What did you just say?"

The Queen stayed quiet, and Star looked at her mother the way she would only look at Tom. She looked at her with a look of complete disdain.

"Is that all you care about? How good of a ruler I'm gonna be? It seems like you care about nothing else but making sure I'm that perfect little angel the rules the thrown with an iron fist. Do you even really care about me and my life? You only focus on what you want!", Star said starting to lose it.

"Star you know that's not true, we love you with all her heart, but you couldn't be queen, you are way too irresponsible, too eccentric, too hyper…"

"And your too controlling! You think that I'm so irresponsible that I'll somehow fuck up and end up destroying the goddamn world! If that's how you feel…than I don't wanna become queen at all", Star said. She didn't mean to say that, but she didn't want to take it back. Being a peasant had to be better than having your life controlled.

The King and Queen were stunned by their daughter's choice of words. They had never seen her act like this.

"If you truly believe that I could rule on my own, you would give me a real wand instead of this pussy ass one!", Star said holding up her 'training' wand,"If you believed in me than you would give me your wand!"

"Star honey, I fo believe that you could be queen. Your my little girl, I know that you can do anything you set your mind to.", the queen said, but Star and the queen herself could tell, she was lying threw her teeth.

"Than let me hold your wand.", Star said.

The room fell silent once again. Star glared at her mother as if she was trying to shot her with laser eyes. Tom slowly once again tried to put his arm around Star, but an evil glare from the princess herself made him back away. The King and Queen looked at each other once again with nervous looks.

"Well?", Star asked, "Are you gonna give it to me?"

Her mother stuttered, "S-Star, let's be rational. I can't give you my wand, whoever has it has complete control over Mewni. You are in no way qualified for that yet. The reason we give you a practice wand is so that you don't set Mewni on fire…, the king covered his wife's mouth, but it was too late.

"You don't get it do you? I want you two to trust me, I want you to respect me, I want you to at least think I can handle being queen on my own, if find a man that will help me rule, but you have so little faith in me that you don't even think I can fall in love with the right guy! You have to fucking put a potion in my goddamn drink to make I fall in love with the guy **you** chose me to marry!", Star yelled at the top off her lungs.

She calmed down a little, "I'm obviously never going to live up to your standards, so I don't see the point in even trying anymore. Just leave me alone", Star said as she ran out of the room.

"Star honey! Come back!", her father yelled after her.

Star ran into her room and locked the door with the key she had under her carpet. Her father knocked on the door, "Star, please open up sweetie", he said.

" **GO AWAY!"**

The king backed away from the door and into his wife, she put a hand on his shoulder, "Leave her alone honey, we've really angered her."

She turned to look at Tom, "Tom, tell your father that we have run into some issues with Star, but we'll find some way to bring her around." Tom nodded and left the way he came in.

"Do you think she's ever gonna forgive us for this?", the king asked his wife. "She has to", she answered, "She has no other choice."

* * *

When the bell rang for lunch, Marco was the last one to leave the classroom. He didn't want be trampled by the hungry animals who wanted to get their tacos first, even though the cafeteria has never once once ran out food. Once he left the classroom though, the hallway was still full of students hungry for the Mexican delicacies.

"God dammit, I hate taco tuesday, he mumbled under his breath. He hated taco Tuesday for one reason and one reason only, the crowd. On any other day, the hallways were practically empty. Students took their time getting to lunch and stopped to have conversations with friends, but on taco Tuesday, the kids pushed each other out the way and the bigger kids pushed over the weaklings, and if the crazy jocks wasn't enough, the lunch lines were disorganized as hell, people cut in line, jocks throw people out of line, and by the time it was all over, Marco always got his food last.

Once Marco entered the cafeteria, he decided to just stay at the side of the cafeteria until the commotion ended. To the right of him, he saw that Jeremy kid talking with some friends of his. Marco's blood boiled when he saw him. He wanted to hurt him like Jeremy did to him, but he stayed where he was, Jeremy wasn't worth his time.

The commotion soon died down and Marco got his lunch. He was about to take his food outside and alone like always, but then he remembered something, Jackie invited him to eat with her and her friends. Marco sighed a little, he enjoyed eating alone, but on the other hand, he would get to see Jackie Lynn Thomas.

He made his way to Jackie Lynn Thomas' table where he saw her talking to 3 other girls. He was actually getting nervous, the girls at Echo Creek were, for lack of a better word, fucking beautiful. Marco realized that he never actually talked to a girl before today.

But he didn't have a choice, how was he going to fair against 4 girl?

 **Authors note: Hi. So obviously Marco has some…problems doesn't he. We'll be digging deep into that later in the story. Please review!**


	4. A way to escape

As Marco approached the table with all the girls at it, he grumbled a bunch of swear words in his head. No only was he supposed to sit at a table full of pretty girls, he would actually have to socialize with his peers. For pretty much his entire life he has tried his best to avoid social interaction, but now he finally has to.

He debated going back to his regular table and sit alone like always, but apperantly faith had different plans.

"Hey Marco over here!", Jackie Lynn Thomas called out.

He had no choice now, he walked over to the table and sat down beside Jackie.

"Hi", he said quietly.

Jackie turned to her friends, "Girls, I would like you to meet, Marco Diaz."

The 3 girls looked at Marco as if they were inspecting him. It really creeped him out. "Aren't you the boy who always stays isolated from everyone else?", one of them asked.

Marco nodded wanting to get this conversation over with. One of the girls looked at Marco's tray and noticed that he had a small amount of food on his tray.

"Why are you only eating one taco, and a bowl of salad? It's taco Tuesday you have the chance to pig out as much as you want!", she asked.

The other girls looked at him expecting an answer. In order to keep the attention off him, he quickly answered the question, "I'm not really that hungry", he said.

"Well, do you mind if I have it?", another girl asked, but before Marco could answer, she had already took a bite of his taco. "Go ahead you can have it", he mumbled.

"Janna, please quit taking people's food.", Jackie said a little embarrassed.

"What?", Janna said with a mouth full of taco meat, "Leah let's me eat her food all the time and she doesn't get bothered by it", she said defending herself.

"I do get mad Janna!", Leah said, "but every time I say something you pretend you don't here me!"

"See, she's completely fine with it", Janna said completely ignoring Leah like she had expected. The other girl looked at Marco until she noticed his stiches.

"On my god, what happened to you?", she asked. Knowing that Marco probably wouldn't say anything, or at least talk very quietly, Jackie spoke for him. "He got into a fight with Jeremy."

All the girls turned to Marco with either shocked or concerned expressions. The girl that asked about his scar got up and got a closer look at it. As the girl touched his face, Marco started to feel a bit uncomfortable.

"Does it hurt at all?", she asked. Marco shook his head.

Noticing that Marco was getting uncomfortable, Jackie stepped in. "Hope, give the man some space. I'm sure he doesn't want sympathety."

Hope took one last look at Marco's stiches and sat back down in her seat.

"What were you and Jeremy fighting about?", Leah asked.

"I accidentally bumped into him while I was coming in the building. He decided that apparently that was a fucking sin so he assaulted me. It wasn't a fight like Jackie said, it was a little bitch taking advantage of a guy 2 times smaller than him", Marco said looking at his plate.

All the girls were silent and Leah was kinda scared. The tone in Marco's voice was silent, but then it got deeper as if he was getting _Wha_ angrier as he kept talking.

Jackie decided to brake the silence, "I only said that it was a fight to make you look tough. I still don't understand why you just stood there and took it instead off at least trying to fight back."

Jackies word breathed truth. He didn't even try to fight back or at least throw a single punch or kick. He just kept getting up and received more punishment. Punch after punch. Kick after kick.

"Look I'm sorry I brought it up.", Jackie said, "Maybe we should…" "I didn't want to hurt him."

It was quiet again.

"Huh?", all the girls at the table asked.

Marco took a deep breath and continued, "I know that if I ever got my hands on Jeremy I would beat him until he was dead. I would've snapped and flat out beat him with an inch of his life. I would store all my anger in my first and try to crack his skull open. I'm violent and very quick to anger and I'm stronger than I look. If Jeremy ever pushes me to far, I'll lose my mind."

The girls at the table were completely silent, with nothing but the commotion of the other students socializing and eating their tacos.

"Oh…you're joking! You actually had me going there for a minute!", Janna said laughing.

Marco decided to play along, "Yeah, I'm a really good actor I guess.", he said. Hope clapped for his "performance." "That was very impressive Marco, you have true talent."

 _I wish_ , Marco thought.

"For a second there, I actually thought you actually were a psycho hiding under that big red hoodie of yours.", Jackie said with an amused smirk.

Marco tried to smile, but he just couldn't. Jackie's words, though ment the best of intentions, hurt him a little. Not because she thought he was harmless, but because he wasn't to be harmless, but he knew he never would be.

* * *

Star didn't know what to do. She was stuck in a arranged marriage that she wanted no part of, it was like God had decided her faith for her before she was even born, and she was forced to go threw with it whether she liked it or not.

How could her parents do this to her? Her whole relationship with Tom was fake. He was only with her because he was "supposed" to be. It was his "destiny."

Fuck destiny.

*knock* "Star, are you awake?", a voice asked.

Star would recognize that voice anywhere. It was William.

"Did my parents send you to check on me?", she asked with venom in her voice. William flinched on the other side of the door.

"N-No, your parents are asleep. I just wanted to check on you before I left for home.", William said, his voice shaky, afraid of what the enraged princess might do.

He heard her sigh, "Come on in. I need to rant rant anyway", she said.

William slowly entered the room, he saw the princess angrily facing him. "Close the door.", she said with even more venom in her voice. William closed the door, nearly shaking out of fear.

Star walked up to him with a smile, a creepy smile that looked like a mental patient about to kill her latest victim.

"William, you have a daughter don't you?", she asked, her creepy smile turning into a curious one.

The servant was a little taken aback by this, but he still answered. "Uh, yes I do, a four year old and a eight year old."

Star nodded, "How are they doing? Are they in good health? Are they doing good in school?", she asked.

"Um, they're in good health and yes they are doing well in school. Why do you want to know?", William asked.

Star ignored his question, "Are they trouble making girls? Kinda irresponsible, a bit reckless, maybe even hell raising at times", she asked, her voice getting deeper.

"W-Well I-I wouldn't say that they are h-hell raisers, but they are a bit troublesome.", William said as he tried to back up, but all he got was the wall.

Star nodded again, "I see. Well, even though they're a bit troublesome, would you still ever make them marry a guy they think is going to take care of them, and let them think that the guy you choose really loves them, but it turned out the love was fake for so long!", she said finally yelling at the top of her lungs.

If the palace walls weren't sound proof, her everyone in the palace would've been woken up.

"Well!?", Star yelled waiting for William's answer.

"N-No your highness I wouldn't do that to my daughters.", William said, his voice shaking from his fear. Star was a small girl, but she could still break a grown man's neck with her bare hands.

"Then why the fuck would my parents do that to me!?", Star yelled again, the hearts on her cheeks turning into fire.

"I'm not sure why your highness", William said hoping that his words would keep the angry princess at bay, but his attempts proved futile as Star slowly walked up to him with a look that said, "I'm gonna kill you before you even have a chance to beg for mercy!"

But the girl suddenly stopped. Her murderous look turned into a look of sorrow, and the fire on her cheeks turned into blue broken hearts. Before William coukd even take in what was going on, the princess got on her knees and started to sob.

"I'm sorry William. I'm sorry it's just that…my parents…and Tom and *sigh* sometimes I hate being a princess.", she said as tears rolled down her eyes.

William lifted Star up in the bridal position and layed her on her bed. "Go to sleep Star, you need it after the day you've had.", he said.

Star grumbled but she did what she was told and tried to fall asleep. William turned the lights off and closed the door behind him. Star was relaxed, she always felt comfortable sleeping in her huge bed. She loved waking up in it every morning feeling like a completely new person.

She about to fall asleep until a horrible thought poped up in her mind: After she gets married, she'll have to wake up next to Tom every morning.

It was that thought that made Star get up and throw her pillows at the wall one by one. Each throw harder than the last. Once all her pillows were of the bed, she started to sob again.

All her anger was once again replaced with sorrow. She didn't love Tom anymore, but for some reason her parents still saw it fit for her to marry that monster. Her parents were a whole other problem. Her parents hardly ever showed affection for her, whenever she did something that people felt was worthy of praise, she was always met with disapproving looks from her parents or saying that she coukd do better. Nothing was ever good enough for them.

And now Star could see it clearly. She could never be herself because of her parents. They were always gonna be a little bit disappointed that their daughter didn't turn out the perfect princess they wanted. Star would never please them, no matter what she did.

What was the point of being a princess if you can't live life the way you want it? Star wanted to fight monsters, she wanted to go out with friends, she wanted to make everyone, even those in poverty, happy. But what's the point of doing all that if your "princess" title met your parents would always be disappointed in you for doing those things.

All Star's princess title ment to her, was that her parents would always be disappointed in her for not being perfect, and that destroyed her inside.

She stopped crying and looked at herself in the mirror, she was a mess. Her hair was messy, her eyes were red, and her mascara was running. She wiped the mascara from her eyes and started to talk to herself.

"Why can't I just be a normal person instead of a lame ass princess.", she said to her reflection as if it coukd talk back to her. She looked in her draw and got a more comfortable pair of pajama pants to wear. When got the pajamas though, she saw an odd looking pair of scissors.

She picked them up and inspected them. They were orange with a diamond in the middle of them. The blades were later than normal siccors would be.

"What the heck are these doing here?", she asked herself. She touched the diamond on the siccors and it started to glow. "Wow", Star said amazed by the beautiful color the siccors gave off.

Because she was very curious, she grabbed a piece of paper and made a cut in it, but instead of cutting the paper, the siccors cut a hole in the air. She jumped back in fear, but quickly composed herself. She knew that she should probably stay away from it, but instead she poked her head threw.

Threw the hole their was a whole different world from her own, instead of the usually burned down and out of shape houses, their was a beautiful garden with lovely houses all over the place. Star gazed at the beautiful sight with absolute amazement. What was the amazing place?

She made the cut air big enough for her to step in. She stepped in and breathed in the air. It felt so nice to breath in air that wasn't polluted by the smell of machines. It was day time in this world, the hot sun shined on Star's skin making her feel fantastic.

For some reason, the streets on this land were bare for some reason. Why weren't the citizens of this beautiful place not enjoying it. In the corner of her eye Star saw a woman sitting on her porch with her child in her lap.

Nervous but curious, Star went up to the woman, "Um hello."

The woman looked up and smiled, "Oh hello, may I help you?", she asked.

"Um yes, I just got here, could you tell me what this place is?", Star asked.

"This city is named Echo Creek. Are your family thinking of moving here?"

"Um, yes we are. I think we might like it here.", Star said looking around the city.

"You better be off now little girl, if someone sees that your not in school than your parents might get in trouble.

"Oh my I had no idea! I better be on my way" Star used the siccors to open another portal and stepped inside it as she waved goodbye to the lady.

The woman was stunned by what she just saw and looked at her baby as if asking, "what the heck just happened?"

Star entered the postal back home and landed back on her bed with a smirk on her face. The princess had come up with a way to escape her life as a princess.

* * *

The rest of lunch went on fine. The girls mostly talked to each other, Marco only speaking when Jackie talked to him. As soon as the bell rang Marco left the table without even saying goodbye to the girls.

He was halfway down the hallway before he heard a voice come from behind him. "You really need to learn some manners y'know that?"

He knew who that was. He turned and saw Jackie Lynn Thomas with her arms crossed.

"And who's gonna teach me?", Marco asked rhetorically. "Me if you don't get your act together", Jackie said with a smirk.

"That was really rude back there. You just got up and left without even saying goodbye to anyone. That's a dick move.", she said.

Marco sighed. If it was anyone else, he would've left right then and there, but he had a soft spot for Jackie and he couldn't deny it.

"Sorry, it's just that I'm not used to talking in a big group of people, let alone 4 cute girls. Look just leave me alone alright", he said and then turned around.

He started walking again before Jackie once again stopped him, this time by grabbing his arm and turning him around herself. Her cheeks were red after Marco called her cute. "Look", she began, "I can see that you don't like being forced to socialize with people and I understand that. I just wanted you to sit with me and my friends because…I feel sorry for you."

Marco raised an eyebrow at this. Why would she feel sorry for him.

"It's just that, ever since pre school I've seen you be alone, not really socializing with anyone else. When we got to middle school I saw that you were getting even worse, you started wearing your hood over your head all the time and your voice, if you ever talked at all, was really deeper and you sounded really sad. People say that you're just weird, but I've always thought there was something bigger going on with you, so I decided to invite you to meet my friends so I could get to know you.", Jackie confessed. Her face was now red from embarrassment.

Fir the first time in his entire life, Marco was blushing a little. The fact that someone noticed him at all took him by surprise. The fact that that person was Jackie Lynn Thomas was even more of a shock.

"Jackie, I can assure you that I'm not sad or depressed or anything like that. I just simply prefer to be alone, and I talk in a quiet voice because I don't wanna talk to people and I'm not very social. That's all there is to it. There's nothing wrong with me.", Marco said.

Jackie was both a bit relieved, and a little bit embarrassed at she just admitted.

"Well that's good to know, but, can we at least be friends?", she said with a sincere smile.

Again, if it was anyone else he would've said no and left, but it was Jackie Lynn Thomas. "Of course we can", Marco said, his tone of voice and expression on his face still not changing.

Jackie smiled and waved goodbye to Marco and headed to her class. Marco watched as she walked away, he couldn't help but stare at her butt. Marco couldn't deny it, he was head over heels in love with her. She was just so perfect. Her beautiful hair. She had the voice of an angel. Everything about her just made him crazy.

"Looks like I choose the right period to skip", a sinister voice said. Marco rolled his eyes and turned to Jeremy. "Shouldn't you be in class dork?", he asked with a sinister smirk.

Marco walked up to him until they were face to face, "What the hell do you want?"

Jeremy snarled, "I saw you and Jackie getting friendly. It was really pathetic to watch. Her pretending that she actually cared about you, what a joke."

Marco once again still didn't back down.

Jeremy continued, "Listen to me you little dweeb and listen good, you better stay away from Jackie or else I'm gonna finish what I started earlier.", he said grabbing Marco by his hoodie and pushing him against the wall.

Even thought Jeremy had at least two feet on him, Marco wasn't scared.

"It's not like you even have a chance with Jackie anyway.", Jeremy finished throwing Marco on the floor. Marco landed face first onto the ground and made a sickening 'thud' as his head collided with the ground. But Jeremy wasn't finished with him. He grabbed Marco by the head and smashed his face into the ground.

"Stay down you fucking idiot!", Jeremy yelled kicking him the face even harder than before. But just like last time, Marco didn't stay down. He kept getting up over and over again, refusing to back down. But every time he got back up, Jeremy would beat him down harder than before.

Tired of Marco getting up again and again, Jeremy kicked him straight in the temple, knocking him out cold. Jeremy chuckled, he stood over Marco and spir on his face. The scar Marco had had been reopened

Jeremy walked away from a bloody and unconscious Marco Diaz with an evil smirk.

 **Authors note: Sorry that the ending seems a bit rushed. Please review!**


	5. It's Like Destiny part 1

Marco slowly opened his eyes, blood completely covered his vision. He probably stayed down for about two minutes after Jeremy left just to makes sure he didn't come back. Marco felt the blood dripping into his mouth. He didn't feel any pain, just blood pouring from his face.

He ran into the boys restroom and looked at himself in the mirror. His face was covered in blood, it was so bad that you couldn't even see the original color of his skin. He had a huge gash right next to his left eye that would cause anyone to throw up. He cringed at the sight. He grabbed napkins and whipped the blood of as hard as he could. He stayed in there for five minutes trying to clean all the blood off his face.

Suddenly the bell rang signaling that it was time for students to go to their next class. Marco looked at himself in the mirror and saw that he was still bleeding.

"Dammit it just won't stop!", Marco said getting worried. It's not because he didn't want people to see him like this, he didn't want Jackie Lynn Thomas to see him like this. She already saw him with that ugly scar, he didn't want her to see him with his face covered in blood.

The sound of students talking and walking filled the hallway. Marco quickly grabbed as much paper towels as he could and covered the gash on his head. He put his hood over his head and kept his head. He knew paper towels wouldn't stop the insane bleeding, he had to go to the nurse again.

He opened the restroom door and walked out not facing anyone. Like he expected, people passed right by him.

 _All I need to do is get to the nurses office and I'm in the clear_ Marco thought.

But once again, faith had other plans.

"Hey Marco!" Suddenly, beside Marco was Jackie's friend Janna. Marco, although panicking in the inside, played it cool. He made sure that the paper towels were completely covering his left eye and the gash.

"Hello Janna.", he said quitely.

Janna, for some reason, was getting as closely as possible to him. She smirked evilly, "I know your secret."

Marco's eyes went wide. What secret is she talking about? He had so many.

He coughed, "Um, what secret do you mean exactly?", he asked playing it cool.

Janna got even closer to him, "I know you love Jackie."

This caught Marco off guard. He was both relieved and clutched. He was relieved because it wasn't the _worst_ secret he was hiding from everyone, but he was worried because Janna knew about his crush on Jackie.

"Janna, please don't tell Jackie, I just want us to be friends", Marco said.

Unfortunately, Janna wasn't very cooperative. "Oh come on you spoil sport. I'm sure Jackie would love to go out with you, you just gotta stop being shy and man up", she said.

Marco noticed that they were getting close to the nurses office. "Janna, I don't wan-" He didn't get to finish because Janna grabbed him by the whist. He was confused at first, but when he saw were Janna was taking him, he nearly had a heart attack.

He saw Jackie Lynn Thomas along with Hope and Leah talking about something. He immediately planted his feet on the ground making it so Janna couldn't move him anymore.

Janna pulled with all her might, but Marco wouldn't budge. "Oh come on Marco, you're not scared of Jackie are you?", she teased. "Janna, please just let me go. I don't wanna ask Jackie out.", Marco said, getting very irritated.

"But why not? You two would be the cute-Are you bleeding?", Janna asked letting go of his hand. Marco suddenly felt blood once again dripping from his eye.

Without even answering Janna, he ran to the nurses office. Janna watched him go, still completely stunned from what happened. So many thoughts were running threw her head, she had millions of questions, but the biggest one of them all, what was wrong with Marco.

It was obvious he was hiding much more than his feelings for Jackie, but what was it?

"Hey Janna", she heard Hope's voice.

She turned and waved at her friends, "Wassup guys?"

"We're have you been?", Leah asked, "You normally you meet us outside the classroom."

"Oh, well I ran into Marco.", Janna said.

"Really?", Jackie asked, "Did he actually talk to you first?"

Janna knew that she should tell her friends the truth, but at the same time, she wanted to protect Marco's privacy.

"I just said hi to him, he didn't say anything back though."

That answer satisfied her friends, but Janna was still thinking about Marco.

* * *

"You really need to be careful . That's two serious injuries in one day! Who is doing this to you?", the nurse asked.

Marco was looking at himself in the mirror. He was glaring at the stitches and the large bandage rapped around his head to cover the gash on his head. He looked even uglier than before.

"Marco Diaz, are you even listening to me?", the nurse asked, outraged that he wasn't even paying attention to her.

"Yes ma'am I'm listening.", he said, trying not to snap.

"Well I'm gonna have to call your parents again. They're not gonna be happy about this.", she said. She turned her back to go pick up the phone, but while her back was turned, Marco got up and left the room.

He slammed the door as he left and he ran out the doors. He sat on side walk and breathed in the cool air. He put his hood over his head to hide his face. He didn't want to meet his parents with his now even more hideous face. He wasn't much of a looker before, but thanks to Jeremy, his face was now the equivalent of a man's face after a bad bar fight. He already hated looking at his face, but now he wanted punch any mirror that he saw.

Not wanting to go back to school, he got up and started walking home. His parents would definitely want to have a word with him. Marco's parents were easy going people, never getting to angry with him if he ever got in trouble. He didn't feel any resentment against his parents, he loved them very much. Which is why he couldn't tell them his real secret. The one that would destroy his reputation, if he even had one.

He kept his head down as he walked home, avoiding the eyes of anyone that walked by. He noticed that he was almost home until he heard something that nearly made him pee himself. The sound of someone crying alerted him. There was no one behind him and no one behind him.

"I'm losing my mind", Marco thought to himself out loud.

He started to walk again, but the crying continued. He tried to ignore it and play it off as his brain was out of whack after being hit in the head so many times by Jeremy. But it still continued, it only faded as he walked on.

All of a sudden, it completely stopped. Marco sighed in relief, until he heard someone call out to him, "Excuse me, you dropped your keys!"

Marco stopped dead in his tracks. He dug into his pockets and saw that his house keys were gone. He breathed in deeply and turned around. He saw a girl holding his keys. Her blonde hair was covered in dirt. Her clothes were also covered in dirt and leaves. The weird part was that she still had her other foot in the bush as if she was hiding it.

Marco walked up to her, making sure half of his face was covered, "Um, thank you very much.", he said. He put his keys back in his pocket and began to walk away. He didn't get far as he heard the girl start crying again. He turned around and there was once again nothing behind him. It was obvious the girl was once again hiding in the bush.

He really wanted to walk away and just leave her there, but he knew he couldn't. If Marco's mother somehow found out that he just left a crying girl alone, she would have his head. A lecture from his mother is not something he wants after a day like this. He went over to the bush and peered inside. He saw the same blonde haired girl in the feetle position crying.

"Um, hello.", he said in his normal quiet voice. He wanted to speak a little louder, but it's like his own voice wouldn't let him. He had spoken in his quiet voice almost his whole life, so not speaking in it is damn near impossible.

The blonde hair looked up at him. She immediately stopped crying and smiled a little bit, "Hello."

It was kind of weird that she stopped crying that fast, but Marco decided to ignore it. "A-Are you okay? Why were you crying?"

"Oh silly, I wasn't crying", the girl said forcing a smile, "I was laughing."

Marco looked a bit skeptical, "You were laughing?", he asked in a 'are you serious' tone.

The blonde continued her charade, "Of course, I was laughing at…uh…Funny joke! Yeah a funny joke that's it!", she said. It sounded like she was came up with that on the spot. Probably because she did.

"And what was the joke?", Marco asked.

"I forgot it.", the girl deadpanned.

"You forgot it?", Marco repeated. The girl nodded, "It's a shame to, it was a really good one. The punchline still makes me laugh."

"I thought you said you forgot it?"

The girl became wide eyed at that. Marco knew he had got her.

"Okay, I was crying, what it", the girl said finally opening up. She started to tear up again.

Marco, not knowing what else to do, stepped into the bush as well. He put a hand on her shoulder in an effort to comfort her. The girl looked at him. For a few shorts seconds she just stared at him with a blank stare, but then she smiled warmly. Marco didn't react, he was too busy looking at the girl's leg. It was covered in blood"What happen to your leg?", he asked.

The girl looked down at her leg, "A snake bit me."

Marco turned to her with disturbance, "What color was it and how big was it?", he asked.

The girl looked taken aback by the odd question, but she still answered. "It was a green snake, very small but it still hurt.", her voice was incredibly shaky.

Marco inspected her leg, it was in really bad shape. "You're gonna bleed out if you don't cover that up.", Marco said, "I have a bunch of medical equipment at my house that can fix that right up."

The girl scooted away from him, "My mom says I'm not allowed to go anywhere with strangers."

Marco rolled his eyes and sighed, "Well do you want me to take you to your home?" He wanted this to be over as quickly as possible.

At the mention of her home the girl tensed up. Her eyes filled up with more tears. Marco started to feel a little guilty. Did he say something to make her cry?

"Actually no, I'd rather go to your house. You seem like a nice harmless boy.", the girl said with a smile. Marco was unfazed by her compliment. To him, this blonde girl was just another person who thought he was harmless. She didn't how wrong she really was.

He lifted the girl up in the bridal position. Before they left the girl asked, "Could you get my wand?"

Marco waised an eyebrow at the girl's weird request. A wand? He looked into a bush and saw a rattle looking thing with a big Star in the middle. The handle was purple and there were wings sticking out from the sides. He grabbed the wand and gave it to the girl who put it in her pocket.

Marco started to make his way to his house. "Thank you so much for doing this. My name is Star by the way", the girl said, her mood completely changing.

Marco looked at Star, she was obviously expecting him to tell her his name. "I'm Marco, and trust me it's no problem at all."

He tightened his grip on her to make sure he didn't drop her. Star started to hum an unfamiliar tune. Marco actually liked the tune, and after a while he started to him as well.

* * *

Star woke up feeling rejuvenated. She wasn't angry anymore, mostly because she knew that she would not have to stay in the palace any longer. She had find a way to bolt from the castle. She thanked the sun that she found those interdimensional scissors. Thanks to those she could finally leave behind her princess life and star anew.

She just needed to do one thing before she went. She had to take the one thing she's wanted her whole life.

Her mothers wand.

She understood the power that the wand held. Whoever held the wand had all the power in the universe. If it got in the wrong hands the universe and everyone in it would be in big trouble. So why would Star want it you ask. Everyone in the universe, good or bad, wanted that wand. There have actually been many wars over that wand. The army had to fight off other armies from other kingdoms who wanted the queen's wand. Millions of innocent people died in the process.

There were even times when soldiers from other armies were tortured by the guards of the castle for breaking in and trying to steal the wand. Star was exposed to it at a very young age and she hated it. She thought it was mean and uncalled for to hurt men that were just taking orders. Those men were just in the army to serve their kingdom and earn money to feed their families, but unfortunately, the orders from their power hungry leader caused their demise.

It was a lose lose situation either way. They either die because they didn't follow orders, or they die because they followed orders. It was a very currupted system to Star, and as she grew older, her hatred toward this system only grew as she grew older. She knew that taking that damn wand would put an end to the chaos that it caused.

She needed to take that wand for the good of the innocent people in her kingdom, and she knew exactly how to do it. Star's parents always left to do "very important things" every morning. The queen would always take her "wand". The thing is, a long time ago Star realized that the queen never actually brought her real Wand outside the castle. The risk was just too high. If you ever got close to it you'd realize that it was more dull than the real wand and it was much smaller. Since Star was to "irresponsible" and "easily distracted", she was often left at the castle.

When Star was a young girl, her mother taught her how to do the 'NARWHAL BLAST' spell to protect herself in case any intruders broke into the castle. After that she put the wand in a silver box and put it under the king and queen's bed. If Star was lucky it would still be in the same place. The only thing she had to think of now, was how to get William out the house.

She sat up in her bed and felt the sun shining threw her window. The sun in Mewni's sun was pretty dull compared to the sun on echo creek, she already missed the heat. She heard three knocks on the door, "Excuse me your highness, may I come in?" It was William.

"Come in Willam", Star said, her voice filled with joy.

William slowly entered the room, remembering how batshit insane Star had become the last time he saw her.

"How are you feeling today?", he asked.

Star skipped over to her drawer to get some clothes, "I'm feeling fine today William, I feel happy to be alive!"

She pulled out her favorite green dress and red horns that she usually wore during a party.

William gave a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness. I was worried about you when I left last night. Have you come to turns with your marriage?", he asked.

Star's smile didn't fade. She skipped up to William and stood in front of him. "Nope", she said dragging the syllable out.

William was confused now, "Then why are you so happy?", he asked.

"Oh you'll see, now wait outside I have to get changed.", she said, her tone becoming even cheerier (is that a word? Well it is now). William did as he was told and walked out the room, closing the door behind him. Star changed into her favorite dress and brushed her hair. She was happy that today was her last day on Mewnie, she wouldn't have to take pattern (orders) from anyone ever again. Never have to deal with her everyday responsibilities, and even make some new friends.

She made sure she was looking her absolute best, she still wanted to look good on her last day in Mewni. She exited the room and skipped down the hallway with William following at her heels. "William, will come with me to feed the horse? I want to see them.", Star asked.

"Of course your highness", William said.

"William please, we're friends, remember that you are free to call me Star.", the princess emphasized.

William nodded, "Yes Star."

The two walked outside to the barn. They each grabbed a bucket full of horse food and walked out to the horse pens.

"I must say, it's really refreshing to see you this happy. I haven't seen this side of you for a while now", William said following Star to the horse pens, "What's made you so happy?"

Star looked back at her friend with a smile, "Well let's just say I've found a new lease on life. I have found a way to completely change my life for the better."

The two got to the horse pens and started to feed the horse. Star did the right side while William did the left. The horse pens stunk off horse feces, but since they have both been in their before, they were used to the smell. As Star fed the horses she petted each one of them on the head.

When she got to the last pen she fed the last horse which was the biggest. She had to stand one knee to put the bucket up to the horses mouth. She petted it on the head and put the bucket on the stool.

"I'm gonna miss feeding the horse", Star said in a whisper.

"So, what are we doing now?", Willam asked.

"Well, I need you to head into town and buy some fruit. I'm planning to make a fruit salad for my parents tonight.", She asked with a smile.

William looked confused, "Why are you making dinner for your parents? Are you not still mad at them?", he asked green-eyed.

"Well even though I'm still cross at my parents, I still love them very much. I want to make them dinner to show that our relationship will not be tarnished because of the situation", Star said with sincerity in her voice.

William's suspicious look didn't fade, "Well why a fruit salad? You live in a royal family, surely you should fix them something more worthy for them instead of a measly fruit salad."

Star's smile didn't go away, "William, who's the royal here?", she asked.

William rolled his eyes and chuckled a bit, "You are Star."

Star smiled smugly, "That's right. Now could you please go get the fruit. I want my parents to be completely satisfied tonight."

"Of course Star", William said with a nod, and with that, he left.

Star watched him walk away into the distance. She was gonna miss William, sure he was only a servant, but Star felt like he was the only friend she had.

Star walked back into the castle and started to look around every inch of the house. She checked every room, every closet, every bathroom, and every attic in the castle (she didn't even understand why the castle had more than one attic). No one was in the palace, it was completely bare of human life. Star could now start her plan.

She went into her parents room. "Mom? Dad?", she called out. No one responded.

The princess smirked as she reach underneath the bed and grabbed a silver chest. She looked behind her one more time to make sure that no one was watching her cagey activity. With no one in sight, she rigorously opened the box. There layed the wand, the real one.

She grabbed it and watched as it turned from a long sized wand with a blue diamond on it to a small purple wand with winds on the side and a big golden Star in the middle.

"O…M…G. So cool!", she said. She closed the box and placed it back under the bed like nothing happened. She looked down at the wand in her hand. She realized that she now had all the power in the universe, but no one else knew, and it didn't really matter now. She was gonna leave Mewni, and never return.

Authors note: We all see the huge flaws in Star's plan right? Thanks for reading!

For anyone wondering: A day in earth time is two days in Mewni time.


	6. It's like Destiny part 2

"Star, I'm back!", William called out as he entered the palace. He had to yell by cause of the palace being so huge.

He waited for Star go either come running down thanking him for the deed or to yell down instructions on what to do with them. He became a little worried when she hadn't come down.

"Hey Star, you alright up there?", he called. No answer.

William climbed up the stairs to the top floor where Star's room was. When he made it to Star's room he knocked on the door, "Star?", he called, "Are you okay?"

He got no answer.

He was starting to get worried now. He was expecting Star to yell at him for waking her up, or saying that she was in the shower, or even a "Hello". The fact that it was dead silent in there made him even more tense. He abridged his sword and kicked the door open with one powerful kick. He entered in and looked around and saw nothing. The room was completely bare with no Star in sight.

All the furniture was gone as well. No bed, no dresser, not even her closer was there. William started to panic, "No, no, no, no, no, no! Where could she be!?"

He looked out the window to see if he could see her, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen. A thought came into his head, "Tom, he must've kidnapped her!", he said getting ready to storm out the door, but he stopped himself. "But then why would he take the furniture?", he pondered.

William was generally confused now, for every explanation he came up with, there was always something that contradicted it. He honestly couldn't think of any logical explanation, until he put the puzzle pieces together, she must've ran away.

It now made perfect sense, she made up the fruit salad thing to get him out of the house seeing as it would his duty to be in her presence and follow her orders at all times. William kicked mentally himself because he saw it coming, but he didn't do anything to stop it. He wanted to believe that she wouldn't do anything like that and ignore those thoughts, but his fears have become reality. There was no doubt in his mind.

William layed down on his back and stared at the ceiling thinking of how to tell the king and queen that their little girl had had enough of her life as a princess. He noticed a piece of paper hanging from the ceiling. He stood up and reached for the paper then jumped when he saw that it was out of his reach.

When he got the paper he read the writing that was on it.

 **Dear family,**

 **You've probably figured out what's happened at this point, but I know how aloof dad is so I'll just say it, I've run away. Knowing you parents, you probably think this is just some huge cry for attention or something, or maybe you know what this is and you're just making up some excuse to make you feel better because the all mighty King and Queen Butterfly can do no wrong.**

 **The reason I've ran away is obvious, you. You two have basically dehumanized me for long enough. Ever since I was a child, you've always seen me as a failure.**

 **An omission.**

 **I see the looks you give me, and I know you have private consultations about sending me to st olgs reformation school, but I try to ignore it, but I can only do that for so long.**

 **It's finally setting in, the reality of I'll never be your perfect princess, the fact that you will always be disappointed in me, it's eating me alive.**

 **Nothing I ever do will ever impress you. I can't even be myself without thinking of what you'll say to me. And this is all before I found out about my arranged marriage with Tom.**

 **I can't tell you how much this infuriates me, and my anger just continues to grow as time goes on. I already told you how I feel about this, and my feelings haven't changed. You've betrayed my trust, and I'm not sure if I'm ever going to get over this.**

 **So to put an end to all of this, I'm running away, to a place I know I'll be accepted for who I am, and I'll no longer be restricted by my princess status, or pledged to something I want no part in.**

 **I'm going to a place were I will be free, and you will never find me.**

 **Truly no longer yours, Star Butterfly.**

 **P.S. You'll be happy to know, I've hindranced any more wars from happening. You're welcome.**

William was almost drawn to tears from this note. He was both scared for Star's safety and happy for her at the same time. He was happy that Star was free, but he was more terrified by the fact that no one knew were the hell she was and how she was gonna survive out there on her own. He was also curious about what she ment about stopping a war. Knowing Star, she probably did somethings extremely irrational.

And to top it all off, he didn't know how to explain to Star's parents that their little girl had ran away.

* * *

When Star first entered Echo Creek, there were two things on her mind. One, God the sun felt incredible, and two, this place is amazing!

She had reappeared in a different place then last time, it wasn't a bunch of house and beautiful gardens on one street anymore, she was now surrounded by huge Mary go rounds, a Ferris wheel, about a dozen roller coasters, candy stands, and even a huge house with funny looking mirror inside. She was simply amazed by the phenomenon.

She wasn't sure how she got there seeing as she still didn't quite grasp how the interdimensional siccors worked, but she didn't care, this place was awesome!

She was completely astonished by the fact that all of these things were together in one place, back on Mewni you would have to get in one line to get on these things. Never were they all in the same place, so this was absolutely marvelous to Star. She spotted a place were little kids could get free ice cream and ride the mini roller coasters. Star actually felt ill will against the children. She could never get to do thinks like this as a child. Nevertheless, she put her feelings aside and went of to enjoy this magical place.

She skipped over to a stage were everyone was watching a man in black clothing and a black hat perform with cards in his hands.

"Now ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to need a volunteer from the audience…how about you sir?", the man said pointing to an elderly man in the crowd. His grand kids urged him to go up. He walked on stage using his wooden cane which made it a big difficult for him to walk.

"Now sir, all I need you to do is hold this box. When you get it, don't open it, don't stick your hand inside it and feel around, just hold the box",man in black instructed.

The old man nodded held the box with one hand while supporting himself up with one hand on his wooden cane.

"Now sir, I want you to shake up the box, see if you can hear anything inside it", the man in black said.

Star watched as the old man shook the box, nothing could be heard from it. Star was very piqued to see what was going to happen. She had never seen something so engrossing, she was ruffled to see what was gonna happen next.

"Now sir, do you see these cards in my hand?", the man in black asked. The old man nodded.

"Well, watch as I set them on fire." The man set the cards on fire with a lighter and than spread the ashes all over the box.

"Now open the box my good sir", the man instructed.

The old man opened the box to reveal a brand new pack of cards. The audience cheered at the "amazing" trick.

"Wow! That's incredible!", the old man said clearly snowed by the trick. The man took a bow and stood in his glory.

But amongst all this commotion, Star was not impressed. The trick wasn't as impressive as she thought it was going to be. He obviously had the deck of cards in their the whole time, it just didn't make a sound because it was far to small to make any kind of audible noise.

Star decided to challenge this man. She walked onto the stage gripping the wand in her hand.

She tapped the man on his shoulder causing him to turn around, "Oh I see I have a young fan! I know it must be overwhelming for you to be face to face with the great and powerful Lucus!", the man said in a self absorbed way.

Star rolled her eyes, "Actually, I have a question about your so called, "Magic."

The man raised an eyebrow, "Oh we have a neigh sayer I see, well then, what about my act do you question?", he asked a bit too full of himself.

"Well", Star began, "You obviously had that deck of cards in the box the whole time, the reason the old man couldn't here anything was either because of his old age, or tge fact that the cards were so small you probably couldn't hear them anyway."

The great and powerful Lucus got wide eyed as Star basically explained his whole trick. The crowd began to talk amongst themselves and realized that Star had a point.

"I must admit, you even had me for a second there, but in reality, your "tricks" are just that, tricks.", Star said defiantly.

Lucus started to panic now, he had been found out, but he sucked up the little amount of confidence he had left and said, "You fool, you know nothing about the magic world, who exactly are you to say that I don't do real magic? You're just a little girl."

Star didn't like the fact that she was once again being talked down too, so she raised her hand with the wand in it and said, "I, unlike you, hold real magic."

With a flick of her wiste, turn the Lucus' hat into a rabbit. The rabbit got up and started bouncing on the heads of the people in the crowd. The crowd laughed and cheered for Star.

Lucus was taken aback by what the heck just happened. He knew what happened, it was magic, actual magic, something he thought never existed.

"H-How o-on e-e-earth?", he asked.

Star continued to entertain the crowd, "Who wants me to poof up something!", she asked the crowd.

"Can make me a pet dinosaur?", a young boy asked.

"Of course", Star said. She pooped up a miniature dinosaur that ran up to young boy and licked his face like a dog.

The boy hugged the dinosaur, "Thank you so much ma'am!", the boy said happy as can be.

It warmed Star's heart to make someone so happy. "The names Butterfly, Star Butterfly!"

Star continued to poof up wishes for the people in the crowd, making them happier.

Lucus however was not happy. He went up to two large muscular security guards, "Get that stupid little girl off my stage!", he commanded them.

The two guards mumbled something inaudible before going to do their job. They walked up on stage and held Star's hands behind her.

"Hey! Let me go!", she said trying to free herself from the strength of the two men, but they proved too powerful for her.

Sure she could of used her martial arts training to beat the shit out of them, but she didn't want people to think she was a mean person on her first day of earth, so she decided to stop moving and just let the men carry her away.

The crowd booed this of course, they wanted Star to return.

"Bring back Star! Bring back Star! Bring back Star!", the crowd chanted, but their cries fell on deaf ears.

The two men carried Star to the exit and threw her out causing her to land on her butt.

"Don't bother coming back unless you want to be arrested.", one of them said in a eerie way so she knew that he was serious.

Star mumbled something under her breath, but she decided to not cause anymore trouble and walk away. Despite the fact that she was kicked out of the marvelous place, she was still happy that she made people happy, at least for a little while.

She decided to stop sulking and started to skip to her next destination, wherever that may be.

* * *

Janna couldn't stop thinking about it. It was eating her up inside. She needed to know what the hell happened to Marco's face. When she saw it she nearly threw up at the sight of it, it was very hard to look at.

Janna could remember it clearly, the left side of his face that was pretty much covered in blood. There's no way it was an accident, someone assaulted Marco, and Janna knew who it was.

It had to be Jeremy, who the hell else would it be? They did have the fight earlier anyway, and Jackie herself said that she had to break it up because Marco was too weak fight back. Jeremy must've caught Marco while he was alone and assaulted him, resulting in that horrible, ugly, cringe worthy bruise.

Janna patted herself on the back for being so smart.

Janna looked over to Jackie who was staring worriedly at the empty seat that was all the way in the back of the classroom. She could figure out why she doing it, until she put the pieces together. It must've been Marco's seat.

Janna never really noticed him the classroom herself, but it made sense when you think about it. It was obvious that Marco wanted to be left alone and keep from being noticed, so it would be logical to assume that he would take the back seat of the classroom. Jackie was staring at it because even though she probably wouldn't admit it, she had a crush in Marco.

It was obvious to all of Jackie's friends that she was smitten with the boy. They would always catch her staring at him as if he was a fascinating rare animal. This had been going on for about a year now, but nobody had the heart to tell Jackie that they didn't think Marco would talk to her, let alone date her. He was just really anti social.

It made perfect sense why Jackie would like Marco, she had a thing for nerds. It made Janna laugh, it was just so ridiculous. The hottest guy in the world could ask Jackie out, but she'd rather go watch some dork fill in a crossword puzzle or something.

Suddenly the bell rang signaling that it was time to go to our final class. Jackie was still starting at the empty desk, so I had to tap her on the shoulder to get her attention, "C'mon Jackie we have to go to seventh period."

She nodded and followed me out the room.

"Are you okay? You seem distracted?", I asked even though I knew the answer.

Jackie looked surprised at my question, "What do you mean? I was paying attention in class."

I looked at her with a 'are you serious' look, "Seriously, you were staring at Marco's seat like he was suddenly going to appear in it. You're worried about him aren't you?"

Jackie rolled her eyes, "I was not staring at his desk, but I am wondering were he was today, he's never missed a day of class."

 _"Figures you would know that"_ , I thought.

"I know what happened to him", I said as we stopped by my locker.

"What?", Jackie asked immediately drawn.

"Jeremy-", I was cut off by someone blocking my mouth. I looked over and saw that it Jeremy blocking my mouth with his large hands.

Jackie glared at him coolly.

"Jeremy did what?", he asked with a growl, "I hope you weren't planning on telling my girlfriend Jackie any lies."

Jackie looked horrified by the thought of being this brute's girlfriend. "I'm not your girlfriend Jeremy.", Jackie said quickly getting frustrated.

Jeremy narrowed his eyes and tossed me aside like I was nothing.

"Janna!", Jackie said.

She tried to help her up, but Jeremy pushed her forcefully against the lockers. She tried to move but Jeremy's strength was too much for her. He added pressure to her and started to hurt her even more

The blonde chuckled darkly, he spoke quietly so only she could hear him, "You listen here Jackie, you are my girlfriend, you don't have a choice. Do you know who your talking to? My family basically owns this town, so I can get anything I want. I see what I want and I take it, and I want you."

"Fuck you!", Jackie yelled. This only made Jeremy even more mad.

Before anything else could happen, Janna jumped on Jeremy's back started to rain down punches on his head. This didn't last long as Jeremy once again threw her aside only this time physical throwing her to the ground with all his might. Janna's body made a sickening thud and she groaned as she felt her back crack.

Jackie once again tried to help Janna, but once again she was thrown against the lockers by Jeremy. "No one talks to me like that Jackie, you should already know that.", he said in her ear.

She chivered as his breath touched her skin. With nothing left to try, she kicked him right in his… _private_ parts. Jeremy fell to the ground in pain and Jackie kicked him in the face for good measure.

She ran over to Janna and helped her to her feet, she could stand on her own power, but she was hunched over and every time she walked she cringed from the pain in her back.

"Come on", Jackie said lifting Janna up on her back, "We gotta get you some help." Jackie carried her to the nurses office. When Jeremy realized that he was most likely going to be busted he bolted out the school doors.

* * *

"Thanks again for helping me clean my restaurant Star!", the restaurant owner said.

"It was no trouble sir. Thanks again for the free burger!", Star said as she skipped away.

After she was kicked out of the carnival, Star skipped around town to various places, and she found that a lot of people needed help.

At the movie theater she helped a woman put movie promotional posters on the wall, at the playground she helped get a little girls kite down from a tree (using her magic of course), and she just helped a man clean up his restaurant after lunch hour ended, which earned her a free "hamburger" as he called it.

They didn't have these things on Mewni, they only had a special kind of food called "fleeches." They were tiny little pieces of bread with cheese, jam, and, if you could find one, an ear from a rat carcass inside them, it was very delicious after you get used to the taste of rotting rat flesh.

She took a bite of the hamburger and immediately fell in love, she loved the great taste of the squishy thing in the center (the meat she doesn't know what it's called yet), the green flowers that were covered in melted salt (lettuce and mayonnaise), the apples, (the tomato), and of course the bread sealed the delicious meal all together.

She was actually sad when the she had ate the whole thing, now she didn't have anymore. She decided to just walk instead of skip and enjoy the warm sunlight. She noticed that she was the only person on the street she was on. It was nice and peaceful with only the sound of the birds singing.

The house on this street looked a bit odd though, Star noticed that there was something off about them. They looked vacant, it seemed like no one was inside, and the little machines the drove the people to where they wanted to go (the cars) were gone. It was truly odd. She also realized that she hadn't seen a single person her age since she came here, it was a bit strange, but she didn't let it bother her to much and she continued on with her walk.

She noticed as she was walking that a boy was walking on the same street as her. He looked like he was in a bad mood. His face was red and he was clutching his groin as if he had hurt himself.

Star was so excited to see another person her age that she immediately ran up to the person with her usual peppy attitude. "Hi! Im Star!", she said trying to make a good impression.

The person stopped walking and simply looked at Star with a emotionless face. Star was kinda weirded out by this, but she just assumed that this is just what people did here so she played along hoping that this would earn her her first friend in this amazing place. The book looked around the vacant street as if he was looking for someone. He turned back to Star with a warm smile and Star smiled back.

She stuck out her hand as if to say 'what's your name?', but her surprise and horror, she was instead met with a punch in the face. She looked up in fear at the tall and strong individual. He smirked evily has he looked upon her. What followed was a brutal beating that happened in plain sight,but unfortunately, no one could see it happening and save Star.

Although the sad truth is, no one would help her anyway. You don't snitch on a member of the Burnbaum family. God only knows what they would do to you.

Author's note: Don't worry, Jeremy will get what's coming to him soon I promise. Thanks for reading and have a good one!


	7. It's Like Destiny part 3

It hurt. It hurt really bad. The pain just wouldn't leave Star's body. The assualt was over, but she continued to sob. She had bruises all around her body from the furious punches that rained down on her shatterable skin. She was even more confused than scared, she was confused. Why did that boy do that to her? Why on earth would he hurt her like this?

Everyone she's meant in this world was super nice to her, so why would that boy just attack her after she tried to be friends with him? She pondered this question for a while until she realized the obvious answer, even a world as beautiful as this has evil in it. There were many definitions of evil to Star, one of them was praying on an innocent person just to cause that person pain. It was obvious to Star that's what happened, why else would some random person attack her?

She would've called for help, but there was still no one in sight. She would've walked to safety and find help, but her legs ached so much she couldn't walk. Not to mention a fucking snake bit her leg when the boy dumped her into the bush she was currently in. She started to sob again, the agonizing pain coming back to her.

Star continued to sob for a few minutes until *ding*. She heard something light hit the ground. She stuck her head out the bush and saw a key chain with three silver keys on it. She looked ahead of her and saw a red hooded person walking ahead of her. She grabbed the keys and stuck her whole body (besides her bitten leg) outside the bush.

"Excuse me, you dropped your keys!"

The person stopped in his/her tracks and felt around in his/her pocket as if checking for the keys. The person turned around. Star noticed that he was covering the left side of his face with his hood. He walked up to her, grabbed the keys, and mumbled a quiet and quick, "Um, thank you very much.", and walked away.

After that, Star went back into the bushes and started to sob again. All of the pain was coming back to her. She continued to bawl until she heard a hushed a voice say, "Um, hello."

She looked up and saw the same boy who dropped his keys. She was hesitant to say something to him, he looked suspicous because of the red hood he wore that was covering his face, but she didn't want to judge a book by it's cover, she smiled a little bit and said, "Hello."

She noticed that this boy was...different. There was something a bit off about this boy, not necessarily bad, just different.

"A-Are you okay? Why are you crying?", he asked.

Before she even knew what she was saying, Star said, "Oh silly I wasn't, I was laughing." She nearly slapped herself for coming up with that pathetic excuse.

"You were laughing?", he asked in a 'are you kidding?' way.

Star had already dug her grave, she might as well dig even deeper, "Of course, I was laughing sat...uh...funny joke! Yeah a funny joke that's it!"

The boy gave her a skyptical look, it was obvious that he wasn't falling for it. "And what was the joke?", he asked.

"I forgot it", Star deadpanned, "It's a shame to, the punchline still makes me laugh." Star knew that she had fooled him.

"I thought you said you forgot it?", the boy said.

 _Shit_

"Okay I was crying, what of it?", Star said tearing up.

Star thought the boy was just gonna go away, but instead he actually stepped into the bush with her. He put a hand on her shoulder as if he was trying to comfort her. Star stared at him for a couple of seconds before smiling at him. He didn't react, he was too busy looking at her blood covered leg.

"What happened to your leg?", he asked.

"A snake bit me", Star said.

He looked back at her with a look of concern, "What color was it and how big was it?"

Star saw how concerned he was and became a bit nervous, "It was a green snake, very small but it still hurt", she said.

He inspected her leg and then said, "You're gonna bleed out if you don't cover that up, I have a bunch of medical equipment in my house that can fix that right up."

Star was starting to get a bit nervous now. After what just happen to her she realized that she couldn't just trust any random person anymore. Not to mention that she couldn't shake the feeling that something was up with this boy. There was something about him that made her feel uncomftorble.

So she came up with an excuse, "My mom says I'm not allowed to go anywhere with strangers."

The boy rolled his eyes and sighed, "Well do you want me to take you to your home?"

At the mention of her home, Star started to tear up a little. The horrible memories of being at home started coming back to her. The boy looked a bit concerned again, he probably thought he said something to offended her. He looked away from her and checked the other bruises on her leg. As he gently touched the bruises, Star noticed that the boy's hands felt really soft.

"Actually no, I'd rather go to your house. You seem like a nice harmless boy.", Star said smiling a little.

He once again didn't respond. The boy picked Star up in the bridal position. Star blushed when she felt the boy's surprisingly muscular arms around her. When Star noticed that she was missing something she said, "Could you get my wand?"

He raised an eyebrow at her and looked back into the bush to see her wand. He gave it to her and she put it in her pocket.

As the boy started to walk Star said, "Thank you so much doing this. My name is Star by the way.", her mood had completely changed.

The boy looked a bit hesitant at first, but he eventually said, "I'm Marco, and trust me it's no problem at all."

He tightened his grip on her to make sure he didn't drop her. Star felt very comfterble in Marco's arms, he no longer seemed intimidating. Star was happy once again. She started to hum a random tone that she made up, and before long, Marco started humming along.

* * *

"Is your leg hurting at all?", I asked Star.

I realized that Star had fallen asleep in my arms. I sighed, I was just happy that we were finally at my house. I got the key from my pocket and opened the door, careful not to drop Star. When we entered the house I immediately dropped her on the couch.

"Fuck", I said rubbing my arms, "She's heavier than I thought."

I walked upstairs to get the first aid kit from my parents room. I knew it was in their bathroom somewhere. I entered my parents room and saw that they weren't there. I hope they didn't go out looking for me.

I looked in the bathroom cupboard, got the first aid kit, and quickly went back downstairs to treat Star's wounds. When I got back downstairs I saw that Star had dissapeared.

"Star? Where are you?", I called out.

"I'm in your food room!", she called back.

I stood there in confusion at the word 'food room', but I soon realized she met the kitchen. I walked in the kitchen and saw her standing on one leg while having her other leg elevated in the air.

"You have such a weird food case!", Star said amazed, "What do you call this thing?"

I looked at her like she was insane, "You mean the refrigerator?'

"Re-fr-ger-rator? What an interesting name, how did you come up with it?", she asked.

 _'This girl is insane'_ , I thought.

I picked Star up bridal style again and carried her back to the couch. I sat her down and started to work on her leg. I soon figured out that this girl had a lot of energy. Cleaning and bandaging her leg should've took a minute or two, but seeing as Star kept getting distracted and moving her leg, it took about six minutes.

When I made sure the bandage around Star's leg I sat up and said, "You should be able to walk home now.", I really wanted her to leave so I could be alone.

She sat up on the couch, but instead of leaving, she jumped on me. I fell to the ground with a thud and bruises my already aching head.

I opened y eyes to see Star smiling widely at me, "I can't leave yet, we're friends now so we have to do friend things!", she said excitedly.

I looked at her like she was nuts, "Star, we're not friends.", I said.

Her wide smile disappeared from her face, "We aren't?"

I pushed Star off of me and stood up, "No, I just helped you because you were a person in need.", I explained.

Star stayed down on the floor, "O-Oh, okay then", she said, her voice was once again shaky.

I raised an eyebrow, "Star, are you alright?"

"U-Yeah I'm fine", she said, but it was obvious that she wasn't fine. She started to tear up.

I started to panic, "No no no no no no no no! Please don't cry!", I begged, "Look Star, it has nothing to do with you, it's just that I'm an introvert, I prefer not to have friends."

Star continued to cry, "Is their anyway I could be your friend. Could I do anything to get your friendship?", she asked.

I sighed, "How about this, if you could some how fix my ugly face with your 'magic' wand, then me and you can be friends.", I said.

Star removed my hoodie from my face and saw my horrible injuries. Surprisingly, she didn't cringe or anything she just said, "Ok!", in a cheery voice.

She pulled out her wand and said, "Facemess Fixridicous!", and suddenly a flash of blue appeared in the room.

"Done", she said proudly. She put a mirror in front of my face and sure enough, it was good as new. I simply stared at the mirror in amazement for what felt like forever, and Star just stood there and watched me. I slowly looked up from the mirror and at Star.

"So are we friends now?", she asked anxsiously.

I didn't answer, I just slowly backed away from her and put the mirror in front of me like it was a shield or something. "H-How did you do that? It's impossible for you to do that.", I stuttered.

Star looked at me like I was the crazy one, "You mean, you can't do magic in this world?", she asked. The words "in this world' really freaked me out. What other world could I be talking about?

"Where the hell are you from!? Who are you!?", I yelled. Star backed away from me a bit startled.

"I-Im a princess from another d-dimension.", she said.

And with that very line, my whole world froze. She couldn't actually be a princess could she?

"Y-Yeah right. Magic doesn't exist.', I said.

Star looked at me with the same 'Are you serious' look I gave her earlier, "If magic didn't exist, could I do this?'

With a flick of her risk, Star summoned up 7 puppies. The puppies all went up close to Marco with their mouths wide open.

"Get the heck away from me!", he yelled at the dogs. The dogs ran away in fear and hid behind Star.

"Okay, so you're a princess from another dimension, so why the hell are you here on earth?", I asked.

Star picked up on of the puppies and started to rub it's back, "There there little one, the big bad man won't hurt you anymore", she said comforting it. I was getting impatient, "Answer the damn question!"

Star looked at me with revulsion, "Will you stop cursing and keep the yelling to a minimum! You're scaring the puppies.", she said turning her attention back to the dogs.

"I've had enough of this shit, just get your stupid little dogs and get the hell out of here!", I yelled.

She snarled at me, "Fine!" She walked over to the door, "I can't believe I thought you were a nice guy!"

"News flash blondie, I'm not a nice guy and you're stupid for thinking that!"

"Well you're stupid for...being stupid!"

Star had her hand on the doorknob and she looked ready to leave, but something stopped her. I stood there waiting for her to leave, but she didn't. I watched in curiosity turned into an angry look into a look of dread.

She slowly turned her head to me, "I can't go back out there.", she said.

Her tone had me deeply worried, "Why?", I asked.

She walked up to me still holding those dumb dogs in her arms, "He's gonna hurt me again I just know it, that evil bastard who attacked me and threw into that bush you found me in, he's gonna hurt me again if I go out there alone.', she said. she was crying again, only this time I felt her pain. I know what it's liked to get jumped in the street.

"Okay Star stop crying, it's gonna be fine, I can walk you ho-" "NO! You don't understand, I ran away from home and I don't have anywhere to stay, i'll have to sleep in the streets where he'll find me!"

I was deeply confused, but I didn't wanna ask too many questions, it was obvious that this girl was distraught and she really had nowhere to go.

I sighed, "Alright you can sleep here tonight, but you have to tell me why you ran away from home okay?"

Star nodded, "Thank you so much Marco, I'm sorry I yelled at you. Is it okay if I tell you why I ran away tomorrow, I just wanna spend the rest of my first day on earth care free."

"Fine. We just have to make my pare-oh shit", I said as my eyes went wide.

"What? Is something wrong?", Star asked.

I sighed angrily, "Nothings wrong, I just realized that I'm gonna have to get a mouthful from my parents.", I said with a groan.

* * *

(Third person pov)

"Look honey, I don't want you to be to hard on him", Marco"s father said.

Marco's mom just continued to stare angrily out the window, she didn't even respond to her husband's words.

Marco's dad sighed, "Alba please, we both know that Marco has been acting this way and getting bullied for a long time. I know you want Marco to defend himself, but he just won't do it, he's too scared to do anything about it, I don't think you fussing at him is going to change anything."

Alba still didn't respond to him. The married couple were driving home late at night in the pitch darkness.

Finally Alba faced her husband and said, "You call me telling him to defend himself is mere fussing? It's a concerned mother telling her son to be a man and fight the little punks that keep doing these horrible things to him. I'm tired of seeing my baby come home and be in so much pain. How could you call what I do fussing Danillo?"

Danillo kept his eyes on the road, "You continue to tell him to fight knowing damn well he's too afraid. The guilt he feels for what he did continues to eat him alive to this day and you're asking him to fight? That's insensitive Alba. You have to take in account how he's feeling."

"I am not insensitive!", Alba yelled, "I don't want the nurse calling me and telling me that my son has been injured by a some punk! And it's not just that, Marco has been getting even worse lately."

This was enough for Danillo to turn his eyes away from the road for a few seconds and turned back to the road, "What do you mean he's getting worse? The boy has been the exact same way for years."

"You always leave early so you don't see how he is when he leaves the house, he takes one peace of toast and then leaves without even saying 'hello' or 'good morning'.", Alba said.

Danillo rolled his eyes, "You know he's anti-social honey-", but Alba cut him off.

"I know that, but now it's gone too far, he doesn't even look at me anymore and he puts his hood over his head when he's walking to school, and when he talks he sounds so sad, I know that Marco is hurting inside, but he refuses to do anything about it and it makes me so angry! I wish I could help him, but he refuses to tell me anything, instead he just locks himself in his room and closes himself off from the world.", she said starting to tear up.

Danillo was quiet for a while until he said, "Alba, I know you want to help him, I wanna help him to, but trust me, the way you're doing it isn't helping. The best thing to do with a boy like him is make sure that he gets his space. When he's ready to talk to us he'll come, but for now we just have to give him his space, if we don't he'll just end up resenting us."

This got Alba to keep quiet for a short while. She knew that her husband had a point, maybe the best way to help Marco was to give him his space.

"Fine. We'll do it your way, but if Marco ends up even worse than before, it's gonna be on your head.", she said. They spent the rest of car ride in silence, they were both thinking about their troubled son.

A few minutes later the couple finally made it home, it was about nine o'clock. When they approached the door Danillo stopped his wife and said, "Remember, give him his space."

Alba looked hesitant at first, but she nodded anyway. The two entered the house to see that the lights were still on.

"Marco knows he shouldn't be up this late, he should at least be in bed by eight o'clock. What on earth are all these lights doing on?", Alba asked getting frustrated.

She turned to her husband who was smiling, "What are you smiling at?", she asked.

Danillo, pointed to the couch where they saw Marco and a girl they didn't know asleep on the couch. She was in Alba's old pajamas she wore as a child, she usually kept them for their sentimental value. The girl was resting on Marco's shoulder and had a smile on her face. Marco had the remote control signaling that thy fell asleep watching television, and for some reason, there were seven puppies around them also sleeping.

"You think those are her dogs?", Danillo asked.

"Who cares? My baby finally has a girlfriend!", Alba said trying to contain her composure.

Danillo chuckled and grabbed his wife's hand, "Come on honey, let's let these two sleep in peace."

 **Author's note: Another chapter done! Although it's not the best I still think it turned out okay. So, you wanna know what happened to Marco to make him the way he is today? Stay tuned to the story to find out!**

 **P.S. Don't worry dear readers, Jeremy will get hurt next chapter...hopefully.**


	8. The Princess from another dimension

**Authors note: Fuck power outages! I had this chapter written but then the power went out and I had to start all over again! Ultimate first world issue.**

I woke up lying on what I thought was the most comfortable pillow on earth, but I woke up to find out that I was actually sleeping on Marco's body. My head was on his chest and we were covered in a white blanket. I could feel his chest go up and down as he breathed. I was completely shocked by this, I don't even remember how we got in this position. All I remember is that we were watching tv in silence and I dosed off.

As embarrassing as this is to admit, I didn't really wanna leave this position. Marco's muscular body felt so nice and comforting, not to mention that we're lying on one of the comfiest couches ever, so I closed my eyes and stayed there for at least ten more minutes. The only thing stopping me from staying there even longer was the smell of bacon coming from the food room.

I slowly got up so I wouldn't wake Marco and made my way to the food room. Inside there was a woman flipping pancakes. She wore a green skirt and a pink shirt. She had long brown hair that was a bit brighter than Marco's.

The woman noticed me and greeted me with a friendly smile, "Why good morning, would you like some breakfast?", she asked.

A big smile appeared on my face when she offered free food, "Yes please ma'am. My name is Star", I said introducing myself.

The woman put some sausages on the fryer and turned back to me, "So you must be Marco's girlfriend huh?", she said.

I blushed hard when she said that, "N-No it's not like that. We were watching television and I ended up falling asleep on Marco's shoulder. Nothing romantic happened at all last night?"

"Really?", the woman said sounding like she was a bit let down.

I shook my head, "Nope. I don't even think Marco would be up for that kinda thing anyway, he told me last night that he was an introvert and he prefered to be alone."

The woman smiled, "That's my Marco, he's a nice boy but he won't socialize with anyone his age."

Star smiled when said the words 'nice', "He is a very nice boy, he found me injured and bruises in a bush and he carried me here and fixed my wounds. Then he let me stay here after I was afraid to leave."

The fact that I was afraid to leave the house confused her, "Why were you afraid to leave? And why were you lying in a bush with bruises all over you?, she asked.

My smile disappeared when she asked that question, "Um, let's just say that I had an unfriendly encounter with a vile person. Could we please not talk about it?", I said not wanting to relive that awful experience.

The woman nodded, "Of course, now, you wanna help me fix some eggs?", asked.

The smile returned to my face, "Heck yeah I do!"

* * *

As I look at myself in the bathroom mirror. I wonder how my mother continues to live with the fact that she gave birth to a hideous monster like me. I think about this every time I see my own face, even if it's only for a couple of seconds.

My hair, it was dry and lifeless. My eyes, they looked like the eyes of a dead person if you held it's eyes opened. My arms were skinny and muscleless, it looked like a simple feather could knock me off my feet.

The only good thing I can say about the disgrace that is my face is that Star took away all that extra unneeded ugliness from my face with her wand. You wouldn't be able to tell that I was covered in stiches just the other day. When I woke up I saw that she was gone, she probably took off before my parents came home or else that would've woken us up.

I turned away from the mirror, took off my clothes, and started up the shower. While I was in the shower I noticed something, something I always forget about, but it reminds me how much of a monster I am.

My cuts.

I used to slit my wrist in middle school after the _event_ happened. It was my own way of punishing myself for what I did. I think I stopped around the time my final year of middle school was about to end. I stopped because I was horrified that I might end up getting caught by my mother and she would be mortified at the sight of my cuts on my wrist. They looked absolutely horrible, like I've been been cutting them with barbedwire. The simple thought of my mother witnessing me doing something so dangerous to my health was enough to make me stop, but of course, I still had the scars

After I got out the shower I grabbed and put on my, "I kissed a ninja" shirt, my black jeans, and my red hoodie. I grabbed my bookbag from the room and walked down the steps; the smell of bacon and pancakes was coming from the kitchen, but I didn't feel like eating anything.

I was about to head out the door, but a certain voice stopped me. "Morning Marco!"

I turned around and saw Star holding a plate full of pancakes, sausages, bacon, and eggs. The site of the food made me feel sick. Not because it was bad looking, but truth be told, I really don't enjoy eating that much at all.

"This is for you", Star said handing me the plate, "I helped your mom fix it, she's the sweetest by the way."

I was flat out confused and jolted by the fact that Star was still here. "Um. don't take this the wrong way but, what the heck are you still doing here?", I asked her.

Her smile didn't dim, "Well first, I wanted to keep my promise and tell you why I ran away from home, and two, I smelt bacon."

I sighed, "I guess I can't fault you for that. Go put your clothes on, you can explain to me why you're here while we walk to school."

Star's smile turned into a look of bewilderment as she tipper her head to the side, "Uh, school?", she asked.

I facepalmed as I realized that Star probably didn't have school where she was from. "School is where people on earth go to learn about earth culture so they can become super smart.", I explained.

"Ooooooh, I wanna go!", she said jumping in the air.

I rubbed my temples, she was really giving me a headache, "Well if you really wanna go, get your clothes on and I'll take you there."

"Ok I'll be right back!", she then dashed upstairs to get her clothes from the laundry basket.

I sat down at dinner table and layed my head down. If Star was gonna follow me around all day and be this obnoxious, then it was gonna be a hell of a long day.

"You know, you could at least nibble on the bacon." I turned and saw my mother with her arms crossed giving me a look. I sucked up my pride and took little bites of the bacon ignoring the sickening feeling in his stomach.

His mother sat in the chair next to him, "You know honey, that was a nice thing you did for that princess girl.", she said.

After I swallowed the disgusting piece of bacon, I faced my mother, "She told you she's from enough planet?", I asked.

She nodded, "I said that I wished I had a better oven and then she made the oven golden."

I turned and saw that our old oven that barely cooked food had been replaced by a golden oven that looked liked it belong in the kitchen of the richest man on earth or the king of the universe.

"I don't think she happened to tell you why she ran away from home did she?", I asked.

My mother shook her head, "Nope. when I asked she said she wanted to tell you first." A smile formed on my mother's face, "This girl really likes you Marco, can you please be friends with her?"

I rolled my eyes, "I don't want friends mom. I'm perfectly fine with being by myself."

"I know that marco, but me and your father both agree that it's not healthy; you need to have some social interaction, you can't just sit by yourself all day. Could you at least try and be friends with this girl?"

I sighed and pushed the plate full of food away from me, "Fine, but I'm not making any promises."

My mom smiled and hugged me. I heard Star come running down the stairs and into the kitchen, "Marco, I'm ready to go to the house of learning", she said jumping up and down.

I groaned and grabbed star by the hand, "Let's go Star." We started to walk out the door. "Goodbye !", Star said waving goodbye to my mother.

"Goodbye kids, have a fun day at school", my mother called back.

 _Not likely_

* * *

I smiled widely as I felt the warmness of Marco's hand on mine. As much as I was enjoying it, I was curious as to why he was doing it. I mean we weren't a couple, and he made it pretty clear that he didn't like being around people, let alone have physical contact.

So, I just had to ask, "Marco, why are you holding my hand?"

He turns to look at me for the first time sense we left the house. I noticed that his adorable brown eyes had a certain sparkle to them. It was so rare for him to look at me that I never noticed you.

"You said you were attacked in the street correct?" I nodded. "Well I'm holding your tightly just in case we see the person that attacked you. If he tries to hurt you again I'll protect you."

He faced forward again which was good because I didn't want him to see the massive blush on my face. The tone in his voice showed that he wasn't just trying to act tough, he was dead serious about protecting me.

"I'm so lucky to meet the nicest person on earth. I'm so grateful for everything you've done for me Marco, thank you." with that I kissed him on the cheek. My cheeks grew red as my lips touched his soft warm cheek. My lipstick actually left a mark on his cheek. His eyes grew big and I could see that his face was red even though he was facing forward.

I giggled and I started to skip as we walked along. "I guess I should explain why I left home now right?" Marco nodded till not facing me.

I sighed, "Well to make a long story short, I found out that my parents planned an arranged marriage of me when I was two, but they never told me about it. When I found out I was practically being forced to marry someone I didn't love, I ran away."

I turned back to Marco assuming that he would have questions. "What was wrong with this guy you didn't wanna marry? Was he rude to you?", he asked.

I scoffed, "Rude to me? Try batshit insane. He wanted to make me fall in love with him forever using a potion he made from his blood! And after that my parents still want me to marry him! And on top of all that they don't even think I'm responsible enough to become queen!"

"What a scum bag. You're parents are really insensitive for forcing you to marry him.", Marco said.

"Thank you!"

"Well I think my parents will be fine with you living with us, just stay out of my room."

I nodded, "Ookie dookie!"

We approached a large two story building that was painted yellow. There were kids me and Marco's age sitting on benches. I was ecstatic to see other kids my age besides Marco. Hopefully these kids are as nice as him.

"Is this school?", I asked. Marco nodded, "Yes, unfortunately."

He led me into the building where even kids were. I was astonished by how big the building was on the inside. The school had a skyline in the roof so I could feel the incredible earth sun on my skin. I looked around and saw other kids socializing with each other. I even saw couples kissing and holding hands. It reminded me of me and Tom, before I found out that he was a scum bag.

I looked back down to see that Marco is still holding my hand. I blushed again. I loved the feeling of his hand on mine.

"Hey Marco!"

Marco stopped dead in his tracks. His normal emotionless face now turned into a look of nervousness. I was just confused. I turned and saw that two girls were approaching us. I became so excited that I was gonna meet other people, so I put on the friendliest smile I could and waved to them.

"Hello!", I said.

* * *

As soon as I heard an angelic voice call my name, I stopped dead in my tracks. I knew it was Jackie Lynn Thomas. I just prayed to god that Janna didn't tell Jackie about my face.

"Hello!", I heard Star say. I sighed and turned around to see Jackie and Janna. They both smiled warmly at me and then looked at Star.

"Hey Marco, who's this chick?", Janna asked.

I turned to Star, "This is Star..um", I stopped when I realized that I didn't know her last name. Luckily, Star saved me by whispering her last name in my ear.

"Girls, this is Star butterfly, she's new here.", I said.

Janna raised an eyebrow, "Butterfly?"

"That's right! The butterfly family has a rich history.", she said proudly.

"Well it's nice to meet you Star, I'm Jackie and this is my friend Janna.", Jackie said. "So, are you two dating?", she asked with a smirk.

I felt my face get red hot and I started to stutter, "N-N-No w-we're j-just friends."

"Then why are you two holding hands?", Janna asked also with a smirk on her face. I looked down and saw that I was still holding Star's hand and I quickly let it go. We looked at each other and I could tell that we were both blushing hardly.

"I-I can explain", Star said, "We met after I was attacked in the street. He found me crying in a bush and he took me to his home, bandaged up my bruises, and let me sleep at his house for the night. When we were walking to school, he helded my hand just incase we saw the person that attacked me and he tried to hurt me again."

I leaned over and whispered in her ear, "They didn't need to know all of that." She just giggled.

Jackie and Janna looked at Star in disbelief for a few seconds before turning back to me.

"You really did that? That is so sweet!", Janna said smiling. I was startled by her outburst; before I could say anything, Star joined in in praising.

"I know right! He's such a great guy!", she said hugging.

I was even more flustered than I was before and I couldn't even form a complete sentence. I looked at Jackie who was chuckling. I mouth the words "Help me."

She rolled her eyes and said, "Hey Janna, how about you go show Star the vending machine."

I gave her a weird look but before I could say anything, Janna gasped, "Oh my god you have to see it, they have actually chocolate bars in it!"

Star's jaw dropped, "Chocolate! Please tell me it's free."

Janna grabbed Star's hand, "Oh it's not free, but I'm gonna show you how to get free chocolate everyday."

As the two walked away I could here Star say, "This place just keeps getting better and better!"

I sighed and sat down against the school wall, Jackie sat down next to me.

"She seems nice.", Jackie said.

"She's insane.", I deadpanned, "If I have to spend the whole day with her I'm gonna be dead by the end of it." I turned to Jackie who had a smile on her beautiful face, "I know you don't mean that. I saw the way you were holding Star's hand, you didn't wanna let go."

I rolled my eyes and looked away from her, "I was holding on tight just in case we saw the little fuck that attacked her and he tried something. You can't be too careful when there are dangerous people on the street.", I said.

I could feel her hypnotising eyes looking at me. I turned my head back around and sure enough, she was still looking at me with those amazing eyes of her. She had a look of admiration on her face. "You know", she began, "She's right, you're a really nice guy for helping her."

I blushed and said, "I-It was nothing special when you think about it, I just did what any other decent person would've done."

She grabbed my hand and looked into my eyes. I was stunned as I looked into her eyes. "You might be right about that, but that dosen't take away from the fact that what you did was awesome and dare I say it, heroic."

I had no idea how to respond to this. This is the most affection I've ever gotten from a girl, and it was from Jackie Lynn Thomas no less. With nothing else to say I go with the boring, "T-Thank you J-Jackie that means a lot."

"No problem Diaz", Jackie said. She looked very sharply and said, "I see that Star kissed you on the cheek, she must really be grateful."

I didn't say anything as I was to busy staring at Jackie's face even though she wasn't looking into my eyes anymore. I just couldn't believe the fact that the most beautiful girl in the world was sitting so close next to me and I go touch her hand. A loser like me actually gets the privilege to touch Jackie Lynn Thomas' electrifying skin. It was a truly unworkable thought on paper, but here it is helping.

I felt her move her thumb across my cheek to make a rubbing motion, I assumed that she was wiping Star's lipstick of my cheek. I looked around and saw that no one had noticed me and Jackie doing this weird act, which was a good merit, we would be getting weird looks from students and possibly teachers. Jackie noticed that I was staring at her and she blushed in alarm. I'm not sure why though, she must be used to boys staring at her, she was absolutely gorgeous after all. We sat there staring at eachother for a few more seconds until we saw Janna and Star running up to us with their hands full of chocolate bars.

When they reached us Star sat next to me and handed me three chocolate bars, "Marco, did you know there's a vending machine here where you can get free chocolate?!", she asked.

I shook my head, "No, how do you get the free chocolate? Don't you need money to get it out?"

"Normally you do", Janna said, "but this is the oldest vending machine known to mankind, all you have to do is kick it very hard and you get free chocolatey goodness. Now enough talk, dig in guys."

Everyone started to eat their chocolate bars while I just sat there, eyeing the one in my hand. The very thought of this stuff in my mouth made me feel even more sick than the thought of that horrid bacon in my mouth. I don't like food, and chocolate was the absolute lowest of them all. The color of it reminded me of dog shit, the smell of it smelled like rotten potatoes mixed in with a bit of skunk spray, and the taste, god damn the taste, it was absolutely awful. It taste like milk mixed with earth, and as you can bet, that's a bad combination. The only good thing chocolate is good for is killing those fucking dogs.

I turned to Star and gave her my chocolate bar, "You can have it Star, I'm not a big fan of chocolate." That was the understatement of the century. Everyone stopped eating and looked at me like I was insane.

"So, you prefer to be alone, you don't pig out on Taco Tuesday, and you hate chocolate?", Janna asked listing off only a small amount of my problems.

"He also hates puppies.", Star added. I facepalmed as Janna and Jackie look at me like I just killed one of Star's precious puppies. I leaned over to whisper in Star's ear again, "They didn't need to know that."

"You, hate, puppies?", Jackie asked. She sounded like she just received the shocker of her life. "How on earth do you hate puppies? They're so adorable."

I looked down and avoided eye contact from her, "I don't really wanna talk about it." She obviously wanted to talk about it more, but she reluctantly respected my wishes and dropped the subject.

Finally, the bell rang meaning it was time to head to first period.

* * *

"Bye you guys, we'll catch up with you later.", Jackie said as she and Janna walked away. I waved goodbye to them while Marco just stood there watching them leave. When the two girls were completely out of our sight, Marco started to walk off and I quickly followed.

"Those two were super nice, but I must ask Marco, you said that you were an introvert and you prefered not to have friends, so how did you meet them?", I asked.

He turned to me with his beautiful brown eyes and said, "Jackie~sigh~took me to the nurse after I was beat up. While we were there she mentioned that she always notices me by myself and away from everyone so she offered me a chance to sit with her and her friends. I accepted and we're friends now, simple as that."

I gave him a quizzing look, that story didn't add up. Why would he accept some random girls invitation to join her and her friends for lunch if he didn't even know her?

I was about to question him some more but the second I opened my mouth to do so, Marco grabbed my hand and started to lead me to our next destination. All of the questions I was going to ask disappeared from my brain as the realization that me and Marco were holding hands again took over my mind and it was the only thing I think about. Around us kids were either holding hands, talking with friends, tapping on an odd looking device, or walking with weird looking white things in their ears.

"Where are we going Marco?", I asked.

Unfortunately, he didn't look at me with his beautiful eyes when he responded, "We're going to my first class, it's where we begin the learning of earth culture." I was beginning to get really excited now, I couldn't wait to learn about earth.

Marco and I finally made it to our destination: History class. We sat in two odd looking chairs in the back of the classroom. This room, at least to an outsider like me, looked like a freak show. The big table in the front of the classroom had a weird looking ball on it. It was the weirdest looking ball I had ever seen. Most of it was light blue, while the rest of it was covered in these odd looking shapes. The surface on the shape part of the looked bumpy and uncomfortable. It didn't look like anything you'd want to play with. Why on earth would anyone have that on their table?

The rest of the classroom was just as weird. The seats were little chairs with little pieces of wood elevated in front of them. The walls were covered in pictures of what looked like ancient tribes that excisted long before the earth people I've seen so far. There were also pictures of weird looking islands that I couldn't recognize.

I looked over to Marco who looked like he was going to fall asleep, but before he could dose off a woman came into the weird room.

"Hello everyone, sorry I took so long, I needed to get our worksheets for today.", the woman looked at the back of the classroom and noticed me, "Oh I see we have a new student."

Every human teen looked back at me. Some girls my age waved at me and I waved back.

"Would you like to come up and introduce yourself to the class?", the woman asked.

I looked over to Marco as if asking if it was okay. He read my mind and he nodded. I went up to the front of the classroom and put on my biggest smile, "Hi, I'm Star Butterfly and I'm a princess from another dimension."

The students and teacher laughed for some odd reason; I just laughed along awkwardly.

"Would anyone like to ask Star any questions?", the woman asked the earth teenagers.

A blonde boy raised his hand, "Yeah, can princess here poof up a dinosaur with her 'wand'?", he asked.

Once again, everyone in the room laughed for some reason. I ignored them and focused on the boys desk, even though people continued to mock me and laugh at me. In the corner of my eye I could see Marco glaring at the students a death glare.

 _"Don't worry Marco, I'm going to be fine."_ , I thought.

In the blink of an eye a flash of red light lot the room and when it all went away everyone saw a purple baby dinosaur with wings on the boy's table.

"AAAHHH!", he yelled as he jumped out of his chair. The baby dinosaur was jrooling all over the boy's table and it looked at all the earth humans like they were food. I saw that it was probably about to jump on someone so I quickly poofed up a cafe to keep it from hurting anyone.

"H-How d-did you do that?", one of the human girls asked.

I gave her a weird look, "I told you, I'm a princess. This wand can poof up anything in the known universe. Duh."

After this everyone started to crowd over me, "OMG that's so cool!"

"Can you teach me how to do it!?"

"You are amazing!"

"Can you turn the school into a bouncy house?"

"Can you bring my puppy back to life?"

"Can you make me super smart?"

"Oh my god your hair is so pretty! What do you use?"

"Do you have a boyfriend!"

Even though I was loving the attention, I was worried that Marco would feel left out. I made my way threw the crowd to get him, but I saw that he had fallen asleep at his table. I smiled and went back to my admiring crowd, even though I kinda wish I was snuggling up next to Marco.

This is basically how the next 3 classes ended up, the teacher would ask me to introduce myself to the room of human teens, I would announce myself as a princess, someone would doubt my ability, I would prove them wrong, and I would suddenly be the most popular girl in the world while Marco slept in his seat.

Although I enjoyed the attention, my favorite part of the day would have to be inbetween classes when Marco would teach me about school, even though I didn't really pick up the information because I was either too busy enjoying the sound of his voice, staring into his beautiful brown eyes, or enjoying the warmth of his hand. So in conclusion, it's been a great day.

* * *

I love sleeping. It was source of relaxation for me. I didn't have to worry about the troubles of life for a short while. So it really annoys me when something wakes me up like an alarm clock, or a sudden load noise, or a certain gregarious blonde haired princess.

"Wake up sleepyhead!", Star said shaking me violently.

I pushed her away from me and I glared at her, "Don't ever wake me up like that again."

Star backed away from me and put her head down, "I'm sorry.", she said in a quiet voice that was barely audible. She gave me a puppy dog look, but I wasn't going to apologize.

"Will you stop moping? I didn't even yell at you, if anything I spoke to you forcefully.", I said, but Star didn't budge. I saw tears in her eyes, they were threatening to fall down her cheeks. I sighed and wiped the tears out of her eyes, "I'm sorry I yelled at you okay? Now can we go to lunch?"

She immedietly perked up, "Lunch? We get to eat?" I nodded. "For free?" I nodded again. She formed that classic ever loving smile, "Then what are we still doing here?", she asked.

I grabbed her hand and we walked out the classroom and into the hallway. As we were walking students waved to Star and complimented her. Star had quickly become the most popular girl in town in the span of four hours. Boys were basically drooling over her and girls were asking her were she got her clothes and they complimented her on how fashionable she looked. I'm pretty sure no one even noticed her holding my hand.

When we got to the lunchroom students greeted immediately greeted Star like she was a celebrity and she waved to her adoring fans.

We got our trays and got in line, "So what kind of food do humans eat?", Star asked. I shrugged, " If you ask me, earth doesn't have a lot of great food, but I think you might like what we're having today. Where having an earth meal called hamburgers.", I said.

Star's jaw dropped and her eyes went wide, "H-Hamb-burger?"

I was pretty weirded out by this, "Y-Yes, have you heard of them?", I asked.

She comp!etely ignored my question and looked at all the people in the lunch line. She turned to face me, " How fast do you think this line will go?", she asked.

I shrugged, "I don't know, normally the lines take a while to move." Star groaned and laid her head on my shoulder, "This is gonna take forever."

That got the attention of the girl next to them, "You can cut in front of me Star.", the girl said hoping to get some friendship points with Star, seeing as she was the most popular girl in school now.

This got the attention of all the other kids in line, "You can cut me as well Star", another boy said.

This made all of the kids beg Star to cut them in line. Sometimes I wish I had people to brown-nose me. Because of everyone letting us cut in front of them, we were able to get our lunch quickly. Despite everyone begging Star to sit with them, she still followed me to Jackie Lynn Thomas' table. She was over there with her friends like I assumed she would be. She noticed me and Star and waved over to us.

" Hey guys!", Jackie greeted.

I just waved while Star said, "Hi new friend."

"Are you love birds on a romantic lunch date?", Janna teased. Me and Star's faces were once again red width embarrassment as the other girls at the table laughed at us.

" We aren't dating Janna", I said as I glated at her. "Then how come we saw you two holding hands while you were in line?", Jackie asked, "Are you still protecting her like her night in shinning armor?"

Me and Star blushed even harder. Instead of saying anything I just stayed quiet and Star started to eat her hamburger. When she took a bite she clothes her eyes and moaned with pleasure, "Oh my gosh, I wish they had these things at home.", she said, her mouth full of meat.

" They don't have hamburgers where you're from?", Hope asked in disbelief. Star shook her head, "Nope, we really need to catch up.", Star said as she took a bite of her burger. Her mouth was covered with lettuce at this point.

Jackie cringed and turned to me, " Hey Marco, could I talk to you alone outside for a minute? It's really important."

I nodded and got up from my seat. I give Star my burger and follow Jackie outside.

"Don't makeout for too long you two", I heard Janna say. I ignored her and continued to follow Jackie. When we got out the lunchroom she stopped and looked at me and in return I looked at her.

I waited for her to say something but she stayed quiet; she looked like she was trying to find the words to say. I just stood there and stared at her. I've wanted to miss Jackie for so long, I've learned for an opportunity to kiss those plu!mp lips for as long as I can remember. I just wanted to hold her in my arms and kiss her forever, but for now I must stand here restricted. Jackie doesn't know how much I would give up just to kiss her at least once.

She finally turned her focus to me and saw me staring. We were in the same situation we were in earlier. We were once again frozen and blushing at the sight of each others faces. I'm not sure if she was staring at me because she was embarrassed, or maybe, just maybe, she found me attractive as well.

"So, Janna told me about your…encounter with Jeremy", she said. I would've said something, but I didn't know what to say. I couldn't deny it.

Jackie continued, " She told me that she saw you bleeding heavily from your eye. She said she thought that Jeremy might've been responsible for it."

I finally responded, "She's right, me and Jeremy had a little fight, nothing major."

"Nothing major my ass Marco", Jackie said almost hestaricly, "You need to stay away from Jeremy, he's really dangerous and you don't know what he's capable of."

I rolled my eyes, "He's not dangerous, he's cowardly. He only picks on people smaller than him. He's just a pathetic spoiled brat who can't beat up anyone bigger than him."

The expression on Jackie's face didn't change, "He's a coward that beat you horribly. Marco I hate Jeremy more than anyone in this school, but I know there's nothing you can do to stop him from hurting people. Just please stay clear of him Marco, I don't want you to get hurt."

I would've continued to protest but Jackie looked like she was about to cry. I sighed and nodded, "Fine, I'll stay away from him."

Jackie smiled and hugged me. I was taken aback by this, I didn't know how to respond to this, it was rare that I got hugged by a girl that wasn't my mom, and by rare I mean it never happened.

When we separated we just stared at each other awkwardly. Neither of us knew what to say.

"So", I said breaking the silence, " We should probably go back inside now."

Jackie smiled nervously, "Yeah we should."

I opened the door for her and she walked inside giving me a wink as she did. I blushed and followed behind her like a dog. The first thing I saw when I entered was Star at the table and next to her was a pile of hamburgers.

Jackie gasp while just stood there in disbelief. Star noticed us and waved us over. When I sat next to her she immediately started talking to me in a elated voice, "Marco, they gave me free hamburgers!", she said.

I rubbed my ear a little bit and responded to her, " Why?"

"Well when I finished my hamburger I was upset that I didn't have any more to eat, so a bunch of human teens gave me their food.", Star explained with a mouth full of burger.

Janna was a little annoyed, " They were faunting over her like she was a celebrity."

Hope was baffled, "I don't understand why they did that, are you rich or something?", she asked Star.

"Oh you don't know do you?", Star asked. "Know what?", Hope asked.

With a flick of her wrist Star conjured up a blue crown that appeared on Hope's head. Everyone at the table gaspec and looked at Star completely discombobulated. They were looking at her as if she had turned purple and sprouted wings.

" H…How the hell did you do that?", Leah asked hiding behind Janna.

"Star's a princess from another dimension, she ran away from home because her parents were forcing her to marry someone who she didn't love", I explained.

The girls were quiet for a second until Jackie broke the silence, "That…is…so…awesome!"

I stopped her before she could even start kissing up to Star, "Don't you start, I've had enough of people kissing Star's ass for one day.", I said getting really annoyed.

Star giggled, " I think Marco is starting to get jealous girls." The other girls laughed but I ignored them as best as I could.

The rest of the lunch period consisted of the girls conversing and asking Star what it was like on another planet. In the corner of my eye I could see boys literally drooling over her. I just stayed quiet and I would occasionally take little glances at Jackie.

Suddenly the bell rang and it was time for fifth period. Star grabbed my arm, "Marco, can you walk me to class again?", she asked.

Despite the girls at the table giggling like little school children, I nodded my head and grabbed her hand. As we were leaving the cafeteria I heard Leah say, " Have fun lovebirds!"

I turned around and flipped her off.

* * *

As me and Marco walked out the cafeteria, I was savoring the feeling the warmth of his skin on mine. I swear it was the absolute greatest feeling ever.

We continued to walk down the hallway until Marco stopped me at a door. "Stay here Star I gotta go use the restroom."

I nodded and did as I was told. As soon as Marco entered the restroom I started to miss the feeling of his hand. I can't describe the feeling I have when I'm around Marco. When he holds my hand it just feels like he's holding onto the most cherished of diamonds so it won't drop onto the floor and break. I'm happy that I was lucky enough to find the most handsome and caring boy on earth.

My thoughts were interrupted by an unwanted guess, "Well look who's here."

I turned around and saw evil. It was the tall blonde boy who asulted me yesterday. I stood there frozen in fear as he gkared at me with an evil smirk.

"If it isn't my little punching bag. How's that leg feeling blondie?", he taunted.

I stayed quiet, making sure I was right next to the restroom door. "Stay the hell away from me you evil creep.", I snarled.

His smirk disappeared and he glared at me, "Who the hell do you think your talking to you bitch?", he asked getting angry. He started to walk toward me and I had no choice, but to back away from him.

I saw that his hand was forming into a fist and I started to get scared. As if jaurcy (Karama in Mewni) was awarding me for doing something nice in the past, Jackie came in the hallway and ran between me and the evil boy.

"Stay the fuck away from her Jeremy", Jackie said coldly.

Hope, Leah, and Janna came and pulled me back, but I refused to go.

The boy, who's name I now know is Jeremy, smirked once again, "You really wanna try and be a hero again Jackie?"

Jackie refused to move, "I'm not gonna let you hurt another helpless girl. Stay away from Star, or I'm gonna beat the shit out of you!"

I smiled at Jackie's braveness, this boy basically towered over her, yet she no signs of fear. Jeremy looked a bit surprised by the fact that girl was so gallant, but that didn't stop him from grabbing her arm, "Will you stop trying to sound tough? I know you want me sexy.", he said.

Me and the other girls looked on in digust while Jackie tried to break free from Jeremy's grasp.

"Let go of my hand you fucking creep!", she yelled at him.

The boy just laughed as he pushed her down forcefully. She tried to get up but Jeremy kicked her in the stomach. He kicked her in the stomach and pulled her hair. He made her face him and he said, "You might wanna watch how you talk to me Jackie, or else you're gonna end up like blondie over there."

He pointed to me and all the girls turned to me in shock. Janna turned back to Jeremy, "So it was you who hurt Star? What the hell is wrong with you you fucking jerk!?"

That sick bastard chuckled, "You're damn right I did. It's not that anyone gives a damn about the little blonde bitch." He continued to kick Jackie in the stomach, we cringed as he did. I was furious now, seeing my new friend being assaulted by an evil monster and I couldn't do anything about it. There was no choice in trying to stand up against him, he towered over all of us, and he was even more muscular than Marco.

The brute finally stopped kicking Jackie and chuckled, he was proud of what he had just done, but why? How could he be proud of assaulting an innocent defenseless girl?

I looked down at Jackie and started to cry, she looked like she was in so much pain. She was covering her stomach with her arms, and tears were rolling down her face.

Jeremy turned to me and the other girls, but before he could do anything he was pushed to the ground by Marco. Before I could even process what had happened Marco had started raining down punches on Jeremy's face.

I was scared, I had never seen Marco so angry. He punched Jeremy in the eye, kicked him in the chest, kicked him in his throat and punched his head into the wall. I got a glimpse of Jeremy's face and it was practically covered in blood, you could barely make out who he was.

Marco kicked Jeremy in the head one more time knocking him out cold. Even though Jeremy was unconscious, Marco went up to him and put his hands around his neck and started to squeeze.

It didn't take a genius to see that Marco was strangling him. "Marco stop! You're gonna kill him!", Janna said, but Marco didn't listen, he only applied more pressure onto the boy's neck.

Jackie, who was now on her knees struggling to get up, noticed what Marco was doing and said, "Marco you gotta stop, he's gonna *cough* *cough*", she couldn't even finish the sentence because of her coughing.

This seemed to grab Marco's attention as he let go of Jeremy's neck and turned to look a Jackie. He stared at her emotionlessly for a moment before picking her up in the bridal position. He looked over at us, "Follow me, I'm taking her to the infirmary."

We nodded and followed him. Although I was calm now that all that was over, the though that Marco would've killed that boy if Jackie hadn't stopped him scared me.

 **Authors note: Sorry that ending was rushed, but I was in a hurry. Unfortunately folks, that's not the last we'll see of Jeremy and we haven't even begun to dig into Marco's mind yet, so trust me, this is far from finished.**

 **Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!**


	9. Marco's Dream

**Authors note: I'm just gonna say it right now, I'm sorry about the dog.**

Marco's POV

I stayed quiet as the nurse bandaged up Jackie's stomach. Her ribs had received heavy damage thanks to the assualt by Jeremy. I didn't see what happened, I just came out from the restroom and all I saw was Jackie lying motionless on the floor and Jeremy standing in front of Star and the girls. I immediately snapped and beat the shit out of him.

I didn't even know what I was doing, I just lost my mind. He heart Jackie and he was about to hurt the rest of the girls as well. I wanted to protect them from getting hurt at the hands at that pitiful excuse for a human being. I turned to the girls who were watching Jackie get treated for her wounds.

They were innocent in this somewhat rivalry that I had with Jeremy, and they almost got hurt. I held myself responsible for this, I should've never gotten involved with Jeremy in the first place. That's not to say I didn't enjoy beating the living hell out of that bastard. The look on his bloody face as I was strangling him almost made me want to smile. Almost.

I wasn't happy about the fact that I enjoyed it though. I shouldn't have done what I did to Jeremy because now my love for hurting people has resurfaced. To help put the pleasent thoughts of hurting Jeremy in the back of my brain, I focus back on the girls. I never noticed it before, but they were all extremely pretty. Even thought I still think Jackie is the goddess in the group of princesses, they all had special features about them they that made them beautiful.

I avert my eyes from them with fear that I might be caught staring and be thought of as a pervert. When the nurse was done bandaging her stomach she said, "Alright Jackie, you should be fine as long as you don't run or do anything athletic. You just need to relax and take it easy, understand?"

Jackie nodded, "Yes ma'am."

"Good, now stay here and don't move, I need to call your parents.", the Nurse said. As soon as she shut th r door Jackie groaned annoyed, "My parents aren't gonna let me skateboard for months because of this", she said as she rubbed her injured ribs.

"Well which excuse do you prefer, I fell off my skateboard or, some rich asswhole attacked me and we can't do anything about because if we do then his family will definitely have us thrown out of town or have the police arrest us for some bogus crime?", Leah said spelling out Jackie's options.

Jackie sighed, "I see your point."

What Leah said was true, Jeremy's family was so wealthy that they could influence anyone to do anything for them. There have been many incidents where they have paid the police to arrest someone for just looking at them wrong. There was no doubt in my mind that I was probably gonna pay for beating the living situation out of their pathetic waste of life that was their son, but I didn't have any regrets. If I had the chance I'd do it again.

Suddenly, all of the girls turned to me, they all had mixed looks of anger and worry in their eyes. "What?", I asked.

Jackie decided to speak up first, "Didn't I tell you to stay clear of Jeremy.", she said.

I was stunned by what she just said, was she being serious?

"Are you serious? I just destroyed that douchebag for what he did to you, you should be grateful.", I said a bit offended.

Her look softened, "I am grateful Marco, what you did was incredibly brave and noble, but now you're pretty much fucked. His family is definitely gonna be out for you now.", she said, concern now showing on her face.

"Not to mention you nearly killed the guy!", Leah said struggling and failing to keep her composure.

"Leah's right Marco", Hope said, "We all want to punch Jeremy in that smug little face of his, but you took it to a whole other level. You actually beat him to where he was bleeding so much that you couldn't even see his face. You even started to strangle him! What the hell was that about!?"

"You must be completely sick to even think of something like that Marco! You seriously almost ended someone's life!", Janna said equally as outraged as Hope.

"Also", Star said, "You're really scary when you're angry." Her voice was shaky and she actually sounded like was scared of me.

Deep down, I knew they all had a point. I went fucking insane back there, but even though I want to apologize or defend myself, I just can't. I don't see the point. So, I just walked out the room, ignoring the girls calling my name and asking me to come back. I didn't feel like going to class and I once again walked out of school not caring what the consequences were going to be.

* * *

William's POV

Four days. Four long days she's been gone.

It's been four days sense Star ran away. I can't even begin to explain how angry the king and queen were when I told them the bad news. After they calmed down they came to the assumption that Star would stop this foolishness and return home. Obviously, things haven't turned out that way.

Ever since the royal couple got news of Star's disappearence they have been running the servants here mad. They've sent a dozensearch partisout to look for the princess, and that's just today. The search parties consisted of normal everyday citizens, soldiers, servants, and even family members of the royal family.

Things got even worse when Tom and his Father found out about Star's disappearance, seeing as Tom was supposed to marry the soon to be princess to become king, it's easy to say that they were enraged when they heard the news. In order to increase the chances of finding the princess, Tom's father sent out troops from his kingdom to look for her with no luck.

After 96 hours of searching there was no sign of Star anywhere. It's like she disappeared off the face of Mewni.

My posting threw this whole ordeal has been to make food for returning searchers. The reason I wasn't sent on a search party was obvious, Star liked me. I don't mean like as in affectionate, I mean like as in she thought of me as a friend. I guess that reason gave the king and queen a reason to assume that I had an idea of where Star is. Trust me I don't. Star wasn't very descriptive of where she planned to run away to, if she even made it at all.

As I was preparing the chicken soup for the famished soldiers I hear the princess call for me from the master bedroom, "William! Get in here!"

I groaned and walked to the master bedroom. When I got in there the Butterfly's were having a intense conversation with Tom and his father.

"This is getting ridiculous! We have spent four days looking for that ditzy daughter of yours with no luck! Can't you try calling the little idiot on her phone!?", Tom said outraged.

"You think we haven't tried that!? That was the first thing we tried, but she's turned her phone off!", Queen Butterfly yelled back at the angry teenager.

King Butterfly noticed me out of the corner of his eye and turned to me, "William, do you have a globe at your house?", he asked.

It was an odd question, but I didn't want to keep him waiting for an answer, "No your majesty, no I don't."

Tom's father turned to the king, "Why the hell would we need a globe? As if we need to waste even more time on foolishness."

"Silence!", the King Butterfly yelled at Tom's father, "There is no sign of Star, so a globe is our only chance of finding her."

The queen scoffed, "You actually believe that she made it to another dimension? The moron would need a pair of interdimensional siccors, where the heck would she get those?"

I gritted my teeth as I listened to them talk. It was not abnormal for them to talk about Star this way. They've always thought the poor girl was a bit of a fool and they would occasionally insult her behind her back. It didn't happen often, but it was still cruel nonetheless.

"She's just a teenager, I doubt she even knows how to use them.", Tom's father said.

"When I was her age I was slaying monsters, making love to women, dimension hopping, and killing thieves, you shouldn't underestimate what a person can do at that age.", the king said.

"But she isn't you.", the queen said a matter of factually.

The king ignored his wife and started to look for a globe. A globe was a rare object that only people of high class had. It was a map of the entire universe. If you write down a persons name on the map and a light will appear on the universe the person is located. It doesn't help much, but in a time like this, you have to make due with what you got.

Eventually the king gave up on trying to find the globe. "William, go to the market and buy another globe, if they don't have any then report back to me.", he commanded.

I nodded and turned my back to leave. As I closed the door behind me I heard the queen state loud and clear, "I still think this is a waste of time."

* * *

Marco's POV

I was calm. Calmer than I should've been to say the least. I wasn't sure where I was. All I saw was darkness. Pitch, fucking, black. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face.

My other senses weren't any help either. I couldn't hear anything, it was as silent as a cemetery. I walked around with my arms out to see if I could feel anything, but all I felt was air. There weren't any odd smells either, it was just plain darkness. But I was still calm, even though I had no awareness of my surroundings.

I decided to do the most logical thing I could think off at that moment, nothing. I just sat down and waited for something to happen. Anything. I'm not exactly sure how long I sat for, it was like I had no concept of time.

Seconds were like hours. Minutes were like days. Hours were like months. Days were like years. Months were like centuries. And threw all of this, I was still calm.

I actually didn't mind being here; it's a good way to make sure I don't hurt anybody.

Suddenly, I finally heard a noise. It was a bark. The bark of a puppy. I ignored it thinking that it was my fucked up psyche playing tricks on me, or me going insane from being in this solitary confinement type environment, but I heard it again. It started to bark a few more times now. The barking continued and it wouldn't stop. I tried to ignore it, but it just got more annoying.

I decided to give in and scream, "STOP!"

That didn't work, the barking continued. I was getting really angry now. Believe it or not, I usually don't mind barking from an annoying dog, but this was just too much. I was enjoying in the silence of what was sure to be my psyche, but that was ruined thanks to the stupid dog. As I was covering my ears to reduce the sound of the high pitched barking, I feel something on my leg holding onto me like a child would hold onto its mother.

I looked down at my leg and I saw the culprit, the barking puppy. The puppy continued to bark and I was slowly starting to lose it. I wanted the stupid thing to stop barking already.

"STOP IT!", I said screaming as loud as I could, but the retarded little animal kept barking. That's it, I can't take it anymore.

I picked up the puppy and brought it up to my face. It finally stopped barking and it panted while it stared at me. I would've killed for some chocolate at that moment, it would've been easier to kill the stupid thing. For some odd reason it started to whimper. There were tears in its eyes. It was almost like it was begging me not to kill it. It's not going to work.

I decided to make its death quick and painless and snap it's neck, but then I realized that the stupid thing actually stopped barking. My focus returned back to the mutt and it was now looking at me happily. I was confused by its sudden change in mood, but I didn't care, I was just happy that it finally shut up.

I put the puppy down and pointed it away from me, "Go away." It stayed where it was and it just wagged it's tail. I was starting to get pissed off. "Go away you stupid dog."

It just sat there looking at me with its overly innocent eyes and panted.

"Aw screw it", I said. I decided to walk away from the stupid animal and leave it there.

I continued to walk for a while until I was sure that I wasn't followed by the damn dog. I sat down again and enjoyed the silence of the dark abyss, but that didn't last long as I felt the furry arms on my back again. I tried to ignore it but it wouldn't go away.

I stood up and turned around to meet the dog's eyes. "Will you leave me alone you stupid mutt!?", I yelled in its face.

The stupid thing continued to stare at me like he didn't even hear me. To my displeasure the puppy started to bark again. That was it. With a loud yell I picked up the puppy and quickly snapped it's neck, silencing it for good. I looked at the dead animal in my hands for a few seconds, enjoying the now quiet atmosphere of my surroundings. I probably should've felt guilty about taking the poor things life, but my hatred for these things wouldn't allow me. I could only feel contempt for the animal.

Now I was stuck with the dead carcass of a puppy. Fuck. I had no idea where to put it. Then I realized that I was in a dark abyss and I could just leave it there and walk far away so I wouldn't have to deal with the smell. So I put the dog on the ground, turned my back to it and walked away from it, letting the carcass of the damn thing rot.

As I started to walk I smelled something that made me cringe. It wasn't the smell of the dead dog, it was a an even worse smell. It was a redolent of smoke. I looked around me for the source of smell, but all I saw was the cold darkness. I don't know why, but I yelled out again, "Hello? Is anyone there?" I got no answer.

Suddenly I saw a red light flashing in the distance. I squinted but it didn't help me.

"Hello?" I called out again. I once again got no answer. With nothing else to do, I walked toward the red light. As I approached it, the redolent of smoke got stronger, although I still couldn't see the source. I continued to walk to the red light until a ear piecing scream startled me.

"STAY AWAY!"

I stopped in my tracks immediately. That voice, there was something about it that bothered me. It was a teenage girl'so scream, probably my age. The voice sounded so familiar to me, I know I've heard it before.

I ignored the voices request and continued toward the red light. I stopped when I was right in front of it. It was a door shape hole. In the middle of a dark abyss. I was really confused now, nothing about this made any fucking sense. Why was this door shaped whole in the middle of nowhere? And why the hell was it giving off such bright red light?

The only way to answer this question is to walk inside the "door" and see what the hell is going on. I stuck my head in the door and look around. To my surprise, it was a small 15X15 room with black walls and a black floor. In the corner I could see what looked like a girl crying in the feetle position. I could hear her sobbing. I could tell by the smell that this room was the source of the smoke I was smelling, but I couldn't see it or any source of it. This room was bare, absolutely nothing was inside accept the crying girl.

My attention focused back to the crying girl, I assumed she was the one who I heard screaming. I stepped inside the room and started to walk toward her. I would've left her there, but I remembered what my mom said about leaving a crying girl alone. There was no way I wasn't going to disobey her. As I got closer to her she looked up at me and I finally saw a glimpse of her face.

"Please, just stay away from me, I'm begging you.", she said, her voice shaky.

Once I caught a glimpse of her face I was utterly terrified. Not because she was ugly, in fact she was quiet beautiful. The reason I was afraid was because this girl was none other than Jackie Lynn Thomas.

I didn't know what to say or do at that moment. Her beautiful face was unharmed, but the rest of her, it looked horrible. Her blonde hair was a mess and it looked like it actually had drops of blood in it. It looked like strands of hair were actually pulled out of her scalp has some of her hair was gone and there was blood coming from her head. Her long and shiny legs were now covered in dirt, blood, and bruises. Her skater shoes were one and she was now only wearing socks that are soaked in water on her feet.

Even though she was still in the feetle position, I could still see her torso. The shirt she was wearing was ripped up and I could see ugly cuts on her perfect body. For some reason, her face was unharmed. I sat down next to her, "Jackie, what happened to you?", I asked getting angry at the fact that someone hurt her like this.

She doesn't answer me, she just looks off into the distance, mumbling something I can't make out. I positioned her head to look at me, "Jackie, tell me who did this to you. Was it Jeremy?", I asked getting even madder.

She finally turned to me and stared at me silently. I stayed quiet and waited for her to say something to me, but she didn't. She just stared at me like she was admiring me. Her beautiful eyes studied me like she had never seen me before.

Finally, she said something to me, "M-Marco?", she said.

I nodded, "Yes Jackie it's me, please tell me what happened to you so I can help you.", I pleaded, grabbing her hand. I noticed that her hand was extremely hot while the rest of her body was cold.

Jackie layedo her head down on my chest, "Marco", she said dreamily, "Why couldn't you have stayed this way?"

I was even more confused now, but before I could ask what she was talking about, she started talking nonsense again, "You were so cute back then, I really thought you were awesome, but then you finally snapped and started to hit me and say mean things to me. You started to hate me. Why did you start to hate me Marco?"

What she was saying flat out terified me. It literally made no god damn sense. Why would I do this to her? And what did she mean by back then?

"Jackie what are you talking about? Me and you only met a couple of days ag-" I didn't get to finish my sentence as she slapped me in the face as hard as she possibly could. I wasn't hurt by the by the slap, but it did catch me off guard. I rubbed my cheek as I looked back at Jackie who was now smiling at me.

"You poor deluded fool. You don't understand what's truly going on here do you?", she asked me. I shook my head no. She sighed dreamily and hugged me, "I wish you could've stayed this way."

I was even more confused now. Nothing that has gone on today makes any sense once so ever. Hell, I barely even remember how I got here. I just remember waking up in the fucking dark!

Jackie broke the hug between the two of us and said, "Close your eyes." "Why?" "Just close your eyes Marco, please."

I decided to give in and close my eyes. It was silent all around me, the only thing I could hear was the beating of my own heart. Suddenly, I heard the sound of someone else breathing. I assumed it was Jackie, but for some reason it felt, off. She wasn't normal. It was hard to describe it. Whenever she breathed she made a high pitched sound that sounded like it belonged to an animal or something.

I decided to end this nonsense and open my eyes, but when I opened them, I didn't see Jackie, what I saw was Star next to me sleeping peacefully in my bed. I looked around and realized that I was lying in my bed.

I breathed a slight sigh of relief as I realized that it was all a crazy dream. I stared at the sealing thinking about the dream just had. I was thinking about what it ment and what could've caused such a bizarre delusion. I've had plenty of weird dreams before, but those were usually after i go to bed angry or after recalling the _incident ,_ but neither of those things have happened today. Also, why the hell would I dream about some random dog and Jackie talking like a mental case? None of this made sense!

I was about to go to bathroom to splash water on my face to wake myself up, but the minute I moved Star rolled onto my arm. I tried to move it but she was heavier than she looked.

"Fuck it", I mumbled quietly, I layed back down and relaxed. I didn't go to sleep seeing as I didn't want to have another dream (notice how he calls them dreams and not nightmares, that's gonna be important later), so I just stayed there and let Star sleep. She tosses and turns in her sleep, but I am not bothered by it. She eventually stops moving and her face is right in front of mine.

I'm not sure why I was able to accept Star as a friend so quickly, it just sorta happened. Normally when someone tries to be friends with me, I'm quick to shut them out and rudely walk away, but with Star, she somehow broke me. It's like she casted a spell on me and made me a softy. Maybe it was because she was so innocent that it seemed like she could even hurt a fly, but if she did, she would immediately feel guilty for it and try to nurse it back to health. Maybe it was because she was simply fascinating in the fact that she from another dimension. It seems like she would have stories to tell that would make a writer beg her to let him use her stories. Or maybe, just maybe, it was because she was crying and scared.

I'm a mean person, I'll admit that right now. I remember as a child I would steal lunch from other students bookbags and the teachers lunch bag. Me and family were really poor when I was young so they wouldn't let me pack a lunch to school for fear of running out of food. When lunch time came I just stole food. I took some diabetic kids food one time, needless to say he never even needed to go to school again. The point is I'm a bad person and I've never felt bad for anyone, hell I barely give a damp about myself, but with Star, I just wanted to help her.

Maybe it was because she was beautiful. Absolutely stunning. Star was a very angelic young woman. In fact she's the second most beautiful girl I've ever seen. The first of course is Jackie Lynn Thomas, there will never be a girl as beautiful as her. But Star was still incredible with her long blonde hair, her hypnotizing voice that could make any man melt, her, for lack of a better term, sexy supermodel like model figure, she's every boys dream. She's one of the only girls that have caught my eye and for that she's extra special. Or maybe it wasn't that, could it have been something else?

What was it about her that just made me want to protect her from getting hurt again? What was it about her that convinced me to let her stay at my house without even asking my parents. What is it about Star that drives me nuts?

 **Authors note: I realize this chapter is pretty weak, but I'm tired. Sorry about the slightly fucked up themes of this chapter, but it's only going to get even more disturbing as we learn about Marco's past. It wI'll all make sense in the end folks. Thanks for reading and please leave a review.**


	10. The Party That Changed Everything

**Authors Note: Marco isn't the only one with problems.**

 **P.S. Season 2 is awesome! (They actually made an episode centered around Ludo watchable. I didn't think they could do it.)**

Marco's POV

I'm not sure how long I lied there staring at Star. She was still dead asleep in my bed, laying on my arm. She's been asleep for over an hour now and shows no signs of waking up anytime soon, not that I was complaining. In hindsight, it's kinda creepy to stare at a girl while she's sleeping in your bed, but what else was there to do?

I didn't really wanna wake her up seeing as it seemed like she was having a really nice dream, I could tell by the smile on her face. Every now and again she would mumble something about candy and ponyheads which I found pretty weird to be honest.

This was just another example of how Star is able to make me weak. If anyone else was lying on me while they slept I would've punched them in the face and roll 'em off the edge, but this is Star, and she has power over me that no one else had. I'd let her sleep on me all night if she wanted to.

Suddenly there was a loud knock on the front door. It was so loud that it woke up Star. Her eyes opened and immediately blushed when she saw me looking at her.

She got up from the bed and avoided her gaze from me, "S-Sorry about that. Were you up for a long t-time?", she asked nervously.

"No, I just woke up", I lied.

Star stretched her limbs and rubbed her eyes. I heard the knocking again and headed downstairs. I could here Star following me, she was giggling as she did.

I turned around to face her, "Why are you giggling?", I asked.

"Oh no reason", she said giggling even more. I rolled my eyes and continued toward the door. I grabbed the door nob ready to turn it, but I had a bad feeling that something really bizarre was about to happen considering that Star was giggling like crazy now.

The knocking continued and even louder this time. I sighed and reluctantly opened the door only to see Jackie Lynn Thomas standing next to Janna who was holding six pizza boxes.

"What the hell took you so long?", Janna asked as she struggled to hold all the boxes. I recovered from my shock and said, "H-Here let me help you", as I took the pizza boxes from her and set them on a night stand.

As soon as Jackie and Janna walked into the house they were immediately ambushed by an elated Star. "Yay you both made it!", she said hugging them.

"Of course we made it, I wouldn't miss tonight for the world", Janna said equally as excited as Star.

"Wait, what are you guys talking about?", I asked. Janna turned to Star, "You didn't tell him yet?", she asked.

Star shook her head sheepishly, "No, when I came home he was asleep. I didn't wanna wake him up so I joined him." Dammit Star.

The two girls then looked at me, both of them smirking. "Wow Marco you even attract girls in your sleep", Jackie said.

"Did you forget to turn your swag off before you went to sleep? Rookie mistake.", Janna said.

I groaned and covered my face with my Hoodia so they couldn't see my blush, "Can we please stop talking about this? You never answered me, why are you here?"

Janna rolled her eyes, "We're here to party dude!" "And by party she means hang out and eat pizza", Jackie said keeping her calm demeanor unlike the two balls of energy standing next to her.

I was confused now, "You're not mad at me Jackie?", I asked.

She looked at me like I was nuts, "Are you kidding? You saved Star from getting hurt, you beat up Jeremy for hurting, and you welcomed Star with open arms into your home, how could I be mad at a guy like you?"

Her praise made me blush a bit more, no one has ever spoke to me in such a positive way before. "I just thought that you were mad at me after what you said in the nurses office."

"I wasn't mad Marco, I was worried. I was terrified that Jeremy was going to do something bad to you. I'm sorry if I sounded like I was angry", Jackie said as blush appeared on her face.

My face was even redder now. Janna must've noticed as she started to tease me and Jackie, "Oh would you two just kiss already? You're making me sick."

"Oh my god! You two would be so cute together!", Star said with hearts in her eyes.

Me and Jackie looked at each other for a split second before averting our eyes. "Can we start the party now?", Star asked.

"Hell yeah let's get this party started!", Janna said as she started playing music from her phone.

The "Party" consisted of the girls dancing to the music that was playing from Janna's phone, the girls doing each others hair, Janna teaching Star about how "earth girl stuff" (I had to leave the room for that one), Star telling them what it was like being a princess, and all of the girls watching a movie while eating pizza.

As you can probably guess, I was extremely bored. I just sat on the couch with my hands in my pockets and my hood over my head not saying a word. I'm not much of a party person, I even disliked my own birthday parties growing up. The highlight of this whole thing was having Jackie Lynn Thomas in my house. I never thought she would even talk to me, let alone come to my house. And besides, Jackie looked like she was having a blast. I don't think I've ever seen her smile this much.

And I guess Star having her first party on earth is pretty good. At least she's happy.

About half way threw the movie, I went to sleep. I didn't have a dream this time, it was just darkness. I woke up when Star started shaking me awake, "Marco wake up."

I opened my eyes and saw Janna, Star, and Jackie Lynn Thomas standing around me. "What happened? Is something wrong?", I asked still a bit dazed after being woken up from a deep sleep.

"I saved you the last piece of pizza", Star said presenting me the slice.

I looked at the blonde girl with a "Are you fucking serious?" look. Despite me being ticked off that she woke me up to ask me that, I politely said, "You can have it Star, I don't like Pizza."

This was followed by a gasp from the three girls, I immediately knew I said something wrong.

"You don't like pizza?", Janna asked.

"But it's so good! Here Try one bite", Star said. She tried to stuff the pizza in my mouth but I repeatedly dodged it until I finally grabbed her arm and took the pizza out of her hand.

"Stop doing that. Now.", I said sternly. She just shrugged and ate the pizza herself.

"So you don't like puppies, you don't like chocolate, you don't like parties, you don't like having friends, and you don't like pizza?", Jackie said listing off the many problems I have.

"Yep, that sounds about right.", I said.

Jackie chuckled, "Do you like anything? Or anyone for that matter?", she said jokingly. Janna and Star chuckled as well. I however, didn't take it as a joke. Did Jackie think I didn't like her? Did I give off that impression? I honestly did enjoy her company. I was grateful that she was here, but I just didn't know how to show it.

"T-That's not t-true y'know. I like you alot. I've always liked you. In fact, I feel lucky that you're even here", I said stumbling threw my words.

All the girls looked at me in shock. It was thfirst time they heard me say something that was actually nice and good hearted. I was shocked myself. I'm not even sure why I said that. I didn't mean to say it out loud!

Jackie was definitely flustered. Her face was blood red and she was struggling to say anything. I realized that I was staring at her yet again, only unlike the last times, there were two other people in the room and I'm sure they noticed.

"Have you really always liked me?", Jackie asked finally breaking the awkward silence. Her face was still blood red, but she had the cutest little smile on her adorable face.

"Y-Yeah", I said not really facing her, "I-I-I've always thought that you were cool and y-you're pretty and stuff."

Jackie's smile grew, "You think I'm pretty?"

I could feel my face heat up even more as I nodded slowly. I hoped that we would move on from this topic, but Janna, being her nosey self, wouldn't allow that, "Give her a hug Marco", she said smiling wide.

I looked at her like she was nuts, "No way."

Then Star started to pile in, "Oh come on Marco, it would be so cute!"

I looked at Jackie who was giggling while holding her arms out teasingly. I rolled my eyes and headed up stairs not even saying goodbye to the girls as I left. I heard them laughing at me as I went up. "I hate you all sometimes", I mumbled knowing they couldn't hear me.

* * *

Star's POV

"He's so cute when he's mad", I thought to myself.

I turned to Jackie and Janna who were earing the last of the pizza. "So Star", Janna started, "Was your first party on earth as awesome as I said it would be?"

I smiled, "Are you kidding? It's been awesome! Thank you both so much."

"It was no problem Star", Jackie said, "We were happy to do it, also, seeing Marco blush was hilarious." We all laughed again.

Janna got up from the couch and grabbed her bag, "Well I better start heading home, my mother will kill me if I get home late again. See you guys later." We waved goodbye to her as she walked out the front door.

It was just me and Jackie now. We sat there quietly for a few minutes just silently watching what earth people call a, "TV." I didn't find it very interesting so I started to think about other things. The thought of my parents appeared in my mind. I wonder how they reacted when they discovered my empty room. Were they devastated? Were they filled with regret? Probably not. They were probably happy that they didn't have to deal with me anymore.

Then I started to think about William. I never even considered his emotions. I'm not even one hundred percent sure that he found my goodbye note. And even if he did, how do I know if he even showed my parents? Does he miss me? I mean, he was the only servant I considered a close friend. Or maybe he has too much on his mind to think about me. He is married and he has two daughters, he probably doesn't think of me often even though we do talk. Who knows? Maybe it was all part of the job to him. Maybe all the conversations we had together were perfunctory.

And finally, I started to think about Marco. He was a interesting individual. Ever since he beat up Jeremy I've started to wonder about him a bit more. He is definitely hiding something from all of us, everyone can sense it, but no one says anything. He never opens up, so it will be extremely hard to find out what it is. When he attacked Jeremy I saw a look in his eyes I couldn't really recognize. It was like a mix of anger, regret, sadness, and determination. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. Marco must've had a bunch of emotions in his head when he was beating up Jeremy. Marco's emotions seemed to be running one hundred miles per hour. Whenever I look into his beautiful brown eyes it seems like he has a lot on his mind, but he decides to let it eat away at him.

I beg of you Marco Diaz, please open up to me. Please tell me what's on your mind. I know that if I knew more about you I would be absolutely fascinated. You are intelligent. You are strong. You are independent. You are thoughtful. You are handsome. I know what you are, but I don't know _who_ you are.

* * *

Marco's POV

I really wish I didn't have friends sometimes; at least then I wouldn't have awkward moments like what just happened down stairs. After that ordeal I went back to my room and layed on my bed and stared at the sealing. I did this a lot when I was at home. It was my way of making the day go by faster. I'm bored most of time when I'm at home, nothing entertained me. I thought TV was stupid, there weren't any books in my house, and I was an only child.

There have been many times where I could've killed myself and killed two birds with one stone. I would've ended my boredom and done the world a good service by ridding it of a horrible human being that shouldn't have been born in the first place. Unfortunately my parents must've read my mind because whenever they leave the house they hide anything I could possibly kill myself with. The one day I actually decided to do it was the day I stopped cutting myself. I realized that cutting wasn't helping me at all and I just decided to end it, but when I looked for something to kill myself with I found nothing useful.

No knife, no gun, no pills, no toaster to drop in the bath, nothing. All my parents did that day was make sure I live a life of regret after the _incident._ Why can't they just let me fucking die?

After only a couple of minutes I start to get a bit droopy and I begin to nod off. Before I'm completely asleep though, I remembered the dream I had earlier. The image of Jackie Lynn in that horrible state flashed in my mind at that moment. Yeah, I'm gonna try my best to not sleep tonight, or ever.

I continued to stare at the sealing until I heard an odd noise coming from outside. I groaned and reluctantly got out of bed. I walked into the hallway and saw no possible source of the strange noise. I walked down into the living room and saw Star sleeping peacefully on the couch. I head into the living room closet, pull out a blanket and cover up Star's body. I tuked her in and made sure she was comfy.

I started to hear the odd noise again and it was even louder this time. I cringed when hear it. It was obvious that it was coming from upstairs. I rush upstairs and notice that the bathroom light was on. I cursed under my breath and walked toward the bathroom door, getting ready for whatever bullshit was on the other side.

When I made it to the bathroom I peared in and saw that inside was Jackie Lynn Thomas, with her shirt off, nursing her fractured ribs. The odd noise was her struggling not scream at the pain she was feeling. I silently sighed in relief knowing that it was nothing to serious, but I was a bit concerned for Jackie.

I opened the door and I asked, "Are you okay?"

She jumped and covered her breast so I couldn't take a sneaky look. Not that I would. "What the hell are you doing here?", she asked.

I stayed cooled, "Well its my bathroom and considering the fact that you sound like you're dying in here I believe that's a good reason", I said.

Jackie rolled her eyes but then smiled at me, "Good point. Could you please get me some ice. It would really help." I nodded.

I closed the bathroom door behind me and quickly ran downstairs to get Jackie some ice. I had Jackie Lynn Thomas shirtless in my bathroom. No matter what the sercumstance is, it's still something to brag about.

I brought the bad of ice to Jackie and she held it against her ribs. She smiled warmly at me again, "Could you stay with me? I don't wanna be alone."

I nodded and closed the door. It was just me and her.

"I'm sorry if I made you feel awkward with the whole hug thing earlier", she said, "I just really wanted a hug from you."

I blushed hard, "I-It's okay, I just don't hug much. I don't think I've hugged anyone sense I was ten."

"Really? You don't even hug your parents?"

"Nope. My father is barely even home most of the time and I think my mother senses that I don't like hugs, so she just kisses me on the cheek.

"Do you hug family when you see them?"

That question silenced me for a minute. It's been years since I've seen a family member that wasn't my mother or father, and there was a good reason for that, but I don't want to go into that now.

"We don't see family that much, they all live back home in Mexico", I said lying threw my teeth.

"Ok, you ask me something now.", she said eager to hear a question from me.

I didn't really have any interesting questions so I just came up with something easy, "Who's your best friend?"

Jackie rolled her eyes and chuckled, "Your boring you know that? I guess my best friend would have to Janna. We've been friends ever since kindergarten and it's always a weird day when I don't see her."

It was very weird hearing this. "I didn't know a friendship could last that long. How do know each other for that long and not get tired of each other?"

Jackie shook her head, "It's kinda hard to explain, but when you have a special connection with a person you just feel comfortable around, you start to hang out with them a lot. And if your really close, you can't imagine life without them. I assume you don't have have a best friend then?"

I shook my head "No." "The only friends I've ever had are you, Janna, Hope, Leah, and Star. Honestly, I never thought I would ever have friends that would tolerate me and my anti-social personality."

"Your anti-social personality is what makes you charming and interesting. Why else would I be shirtless while asking you questions in you bathroom?", Jackie said giving me a smile that let me know that she was sincere about what she was saying."

I blushed heavily for two reasons, one, no one has ever called me charming or interesting before, and two, I realized that she was still shirtless. I averted my gaze from her, I don't think she noticed.

"Okay, you have to ask me one more question. What do you got? The more revealing the better.", she said with a confident smirk. That smirk is the sexiest thing ever.

I thought about my next question really hard. What was the most revealing thing I could ask her? I finally came up with one, "What is your biggest secret", I asked. Sure it was cliché, but it was affective.

Jackie'sgorgeous smile faded away and she looked away from me. I felt guilty for asking the question now.

"Hey I'm sorry i-", I started to say, but Jackie covered my mouth before I could finish. She looked at me with those amazingly hypnotic eyes and said, "If I tell you about this, you have to promise that you will never tell anyone about this. Not Janna, not Hope, not Leah, not even Star. This is between you and me forever, okay?"

I nodded my head nervously. Whatever she was about to tell me must've been serious. So why was she about to tell me this? Did she really trust me this much?

Jackie stood up from the toilet seat, turned on the faucet, and ran her arm under some water. When turned the faucet off and took a deep breath before showing me her arm.

I nearly passed out from shock as I saw that Jackie Lynn Thomas' arm was covered in cuts similar to the ones on my arm.

"I...cut myself.", Jackie said refusing to look at me.

After I recovered from my shock, I pulled down my jacket sleeve and showed her my cuts. She looked at me like she just saw a ghost. We positioned our arms next to each other and examined each others arms.

"I won't tell anyone about yours, but please don't tell anyone about mine.", I whispered.

She turned her attention back to me, and oodly enough, she smiled, "Your secret is safe with me."

 **Author's Note: I know you have a lot of questions right now, but don't worry, we'll get some answers next chapter. Now if you excuse me folks, I have to come up with the answers to those questions.**


	11. War Scars

**Authors note: I hope you enjoy this chapter. Does anyone even read these? I can probably type whatever I want.**

 **SAASZS-DOOOO-HUHAISLSGm-haiJajakshsjshsjsishsksbxgdisdnheksbddkdndjskdnksnstrumpsuckscdjhjxsnjxsjnwjnd**

Marco's POV

I'm not sure how long me and Jackie looked at each other's wrists, it felt like forever. We were just sitting there in silence comparing our cuts. Her wrists were in better shape than mine, but that's not really saying much. It was impossible to tell how long she had been cutting.

Jackie's voice knocked me out of my thoughts, "Marco, can we go in your room and just talk for a while?", she asked.

"S-sure", I said, "You should put your shirt on first, in case my parents come home early."

She nodded and put her shirt back on slowly to avoid feeling pain in her ribs. We walked beside each other awkwardly as we walked to my room. This was by far the most awkward moment between the two of us. What do you say to a person after they've admitted to self harm? This was the question we both had in our minds.

When we got to my room I turned on the light and Jackie immediately lied down on my bed nearly taking up all the space. She breathed heavily and buried her head in my pillows. If I didn't know any better I'd say she's never been in a bed before.

She lifted her head out of the pile of pillows and looked at me and said, "Your bed is very comfortable."

I was silent for a minute before responding with a simple, "I know."

"Lay down next to me", she said making some room for me. I wasn't going to make her ask twice, I immediately lied down next to her and she rested her head on my chest. My heart started pounding a million miles per minute as some of her beautiful hair landed on my face. It smelt like vanilla. Oh god I've never loved the smell of something so much before.

"Do you wanna know why I cut myself?", Jackie asked out of the blue. I nodded, "Of course. I'll tell you mine when your finished."

Jackie took a deep breath and started to explain, "Well, it just makes me feel better, it takes stress away. I know thats a shitty reason, but it's the truth. Another reason is because I hate my appearance. I just hate how unbelievably ugly I am."

"WHAT!?"

I could tell my loud out burst frightened her a little as she lifted her head off of my chest and looked at me like I was insane. "What's your problem?", she asked obviously confused.

I stared at her with my mouth hung open trying to process what she just said, "You think you're ugly?"

She nodded slowly.

"How? How could you possibly think that? I know I said you were pretty earlier but that dosen't do justice to your looks. You are the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. You're the first girl that has ever caught my attention. Seeing your gorgeous face is the only thing I look forward to in my life.", I said looking directly into her eyes.

Jackie's eyes were the size of dinner plates. It surprised me that she's never been told this before. Her face was as red as tomatoe. Her breathing had sped up. I think I could see her sweating a bit.

After what felt like forever, she finally said something, "What are you stupid?"

She snatched her hands away from me and turned her head away from me. I was shocked by what she just said. The only word I could get out was, "What?"

She still wouldn't face me, but she would still talk, "I'm not beautiful Marco, and I'm definitely not gorgeous. I am the most hideous person on earth and to say anything different is retarded."

What she was saying was the most insane thing I've ever heard. How could this beautiful young woman say that she was hideous?

"Jackie, you are so beautiful, I wouldn't say anything different. I guarantee you that there are many boys out there that would kill to even talk to you. Whoever told you that you were ugly were probably just mad that they couldn't have you.", I said trying to bring her to reality.

She finally turned back to me, but she had tears in her eyes. "Will you stop lying to me? I don't need you trying to fool me into thinking I'm pretty when I'm not.", she said getting mad.

I was completely flabbergasted by this point. I had spilled my guts out to her but she still didn't believe me.

"Why do you think your ugly? Where is this coming from?", I asked.

She was silent again. I didn't rush her, I waited patiently for an answer.

"My family.", she finally said. "My family has always told me that I was ugly. I've never been told anything different."

"You come from an abusive home?", I inquired.

"Yes.", she admitted after taking a deep breath, "That's another reason I cut myself, my abusive home. I've been abused ever since I was six. One of the things they do is constantly tell me how horrifying I am to look at. It's been going on for so long that I started to believe it. I can't deny it, whenever I look into a mirror, I see an ugly monster that shouldn't have been born."

I stayed silent and she continued, "They have always told me that they would give me up if they could." Tears started to form in her eyes and her voice got shaky, "Even when I young they always wished I wasn't there."

"Why do they do this to you? You're their flesh and blood. They're supposed to care for you and love..." "WELL THEY DON'T!", she yelled cutting me off, "THEY NEVER LOVED ME AND FRANKLY I DON'T BLAME THEM! I WAS ALWAYS A HINDRANCE! I'M A WASTE OF FUCKING SPACE AND I SHOULD'VE NEVER BEEN BORN!"

"No you're not.", I said camly, "I am. You on the other hand are a beautiful and intelligent girl that deserves the world. I know that you don't think that, but trust me, I will do anything in my power to help you realize how amazing you are, and I won't rest until I do."

Jackie looked at me like I was a nutcase. Tears were rolling down her face and she looked like she was about to bawl. I looked at Jackie Lynn Thomas and I knew she was a completely different person now. I never would've thought that the girl I admired for nearly my whole life was actually someone with a lot of problems. Someone that was really hurting inside, but she was hiding it from everyone. Jackie Lynn Thomas is like me.

"Marco", Jackie said knocking me out if my thoughts, "Do you honestly think you can convince me that I'm pretty? You can't disprove fact, I'm a fat, hideous, stupid, stinky, loser, and that's all I'll ever be, that's all there is to it."

It broke my heart to hear her talk about herself in such a horrible way. Why can't she see how amazing she is? At that moment I made it my mission to help Jackie Lynn Thomas realize how great she is. I looked at Jackie again, she was a mess, there were tears running down her face, her shirt had been stained with salty tears, and she was sobbing really hard as memories of her parents appeared in her brain.

At that moment I did something I haven't done since I was ten. I opened my arms and walked toward Jackie Lynn Thomas, ready to give her a big hug.

Jackie looked at me weirdly, "What are you do...", I cut her off by wrapping my arms around her tightly.

I could tell that she was stunned at first for she didn't move for a couple of seconds, but she eventually hugged me back even tighter.

We just stood there hugging each other for at least a few minutes before I said something, "If you ever need anything I'll be there for you okay? I'm always gonna be there for you."

Jackie mumbled a quiet "Thank You", and tighten the hug. When I tried to let go she would hold me tighter and beg me not to let go, which I didn't. I was happy to hold her as long as she wanted me to.

"Can I sleep here with you?", she asked quietly, "My parents don't care if I'm home or not."

I was a bit nervous after she asked that question. The thought of my parents coming into my room and finding me and Jackie sleeping in the same bed was a real worry, but then again, it's not every day that a beautiful girl asks if she can sleep with you, let alone a girl as breath taking as Jackie Lynn Thomas. But Star was also a worrying thought, what if she finds us in a weird position and starts asking questions.

And then I realized that I had another big problem, Star is always around me, what if she sees my cuts? What if she had seem them already but didn't know what they were? Maybe she thinks that's something all humans have. I always forget that that she's only been on earth for a short time, she barely knows anything about earth or humans yet.

As I was contemplating the thoughts in my head I noticed that Jackie had fallen asleep in my arms, she was still holding onto me tightly. I smiled as she snore lightly, it was the cutest thing ever. I picked her up and laid her down on my bed and despite my doubts, I lied down next to her. I held her in my arms, kissed her on her forehead and said, "I'm always gonna be there for you my beautiful emerald."

* * *

Jackie's POV

I woke up at what seemed like the middle of the night. My eyes looked around my surroundings and I realized that I wasn't in my room, I was in someone else's room. And then I remembered what happened last night, I told Marco my darkest secret. I must've been exausted from my constant crying. I'm extremely disappointed in myself for breaking down in front of him like that. I promised myself a long time ago that I would never cry, no matter how much I wanted to, but nope, I just had to brake down in front of my crush. Well done Jackie, well done.

My heart stopped as I heard a quiet noise coming from behind me. I turned around and nearly had a heart attack as I realized that my head was lying on Marco's chest. I've dreamt of this moment for so long but now, it's actually happening. I'm sleeping in the same bed as much crush, and his arms are wrapped around me. Not to mention what he said about me last night, how he called me beautiful and smart. I guess there is a god after all.

I've had a crush on Marco ever since the first time I saw him. It's hard for me to explain why I'm so taken by this odd boy. Maybe it's because he's super cute. If you ever caught Marco without his hood on, it's an amazing sight. His messy dark brown hair, his beautiful brown eyes, his soft looking lips, and his surprisingly muscular arms, it just makes me lose my mind. Or maybe it was the fact that he was so, and this is gonna sound really corney, mysterious. Marco's inroverted personality is something I've always found interesting, and getging to know him over these last couple of days have been the most interesting my life has heen in years. I want his love more than anything in the world and maybe, just maybe, I finally have a chance to get it. I can die happy now.

"It feels good huh?" I nearly jumped out of my skin as I heard Star's voice come from being me. I turned around and sure enough, there she was looking at me with a big smile.

"Star, what the hell our you doing here?", I whispered as I got up from the bed. "I could be asking you the same question Jackie, or should I say, Marco's future wife?", Star said with a smirk.

I covered her mouth and forced her out the bedroom and into the hallway. As soon as I closed the door I asked again, "Star, what the hell were you doing in there?"

"I woke up alone on the couch and I wanted to join Marco in his bed.", Star explained, "but it seems like you beat me to it."

I blushed darkly, but I couldn't help but smile a bit. Sleeping in bed with Marco did indeed feel great. "I felt awesome", I said.

"I know right? He's the most comfortable pillow on earth!", Star said. I couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm over something as simple as this. I like that Star is always so energetic and happy, I wish I could be like that.

"What time is it?", I asked.

"Last time I checked it was zero five hundred.", Star said. "I'm just gonna assume that you mean five o'clock. I need to head back home and get some fresh clothes, do me a favor and tell Marco I said thanks, he'll understand."

"You got it, but before you go, can I ask you something?", she asked.

"Sure what is it?" "Why don't all the girls like Marco?", she asked.

At first I thought the question was a joke, but by the look on Star's face I could tell that she was serious. "What do you mean?", I asked.

"Well, me and you obviously like Marco, the other girls we hang out with like Marco, but no other girls seem to like him. Its strange. He's smart, kind, cute, and caring. On Mewni a guy like that is considered a prince. I don't see how he's not surrounded by girls at this very moment.", Star explained.

I guess I can kinda see her logic, but unfortunately, I have to tell her how things are on Earth.

"Unfortunately Star, some nice boys don't get noticed by girls. There's an old saying here on earth "Nice guys finish last." On earth, being nice gets you nowhere.", I said.

Even though it seemed like Star was listening intently to me, she still had a very confused look on her face.

"Why is that Jackie? Surely being nice should get you everything you want.", Star said obviously still confused.

"Earth is a sick place Star. You may have met some nice people so far, but take it from me, there are horrible people in this world. You saw what happened with Jeremy. There are even worse people in this world.", I told her.

"Worse than that idiot?", Star asked in disbelief. I chuckled, "Yep, worse than him. There's no way to avoid evil people in this world. Although you have to associate yourself with the right people. I think you've done a good job of that.", I said giving her a smile.

She smiled back at me but quickly went back to frowning. There was obviously something else on her mind.

"What's wrong Star?", I asked her.

She looked at me and said, "Is there war war in this world?"

That question was a very odd one, but I answered it nonetheless. "Yes Star, there is a bunch of war in this war. There is so much injustice and hate in this world that it would take days for me to explain it all to you.", I said as we started walking downstairs together.

"Why is there so much injustice and hate? Why can't you all just get along? It can't be that hard can it?", she asked.

I sighed, "I wish that was possible Star, but like I said before there are evil, cruel, and sinister people in this world. Although there are probably more good than evil, hate will always rise above the good. That's the best way I can explain it."

Star pulled out her wand, "What if I took the evil people's wand?" I chuckled and said, "We don't have wands here on earth."

"Oh", Star deadpanned, "You guys are screwed then."

"How would taking the evil people's wand even work?", I asked.

"Back at Mewni, every war in my kingdom was caused by people wanting to take my mother's wand because it holds all the power in the universe. Whoever holds it is the most powerful person in the universe. As you can imagine, people good or bad would kill for that kind of endowment. So naturally, kings from other kingdoms would declare war on my parents kingdom just to steal my mother's wand. Innocent soldiers were killed in these pointless wars. They had families that they would never see again, all because some asshole wanted my Mother's wand. Even as a child I hated seeing this happen, so before I ran away from home, I stole my mother's wand so there would be no more wars.", Star explained.

It was quiet bewildering to hear Star talk so seriously, especially when she was usually the happiest person alive, but at the same time it was very interesting. I found her thoughts on war intriguing and her sympathety for the soildiers who lost their lives in war was very admirable.

"Does your mother know you took her wand?", I asked.

She shrugged, "I'm not sure. They don't even know where I am, I hope. If they found out where I was they would probably beg me to come back home. I don't care how much they beg, that's never gonna happen.

* * *

William's POV

I was sat in the King and Queen's room while the King tried to look for Star on the Globe. It seemed to be a futile endeavor. He's been trying for twenty hours straight now and nothing has turned up. The old man seems to be losing his mind. He hasn't slept at all.

"Dammit!", the King yelled after what seemed liked days of silence. "I have been at this for hours and I've found no trace of her!"

His yelling caused his wife to come in the room, "What do you mean you can't find her?", the Queen asked, "It's impossible to not find someone with a globe. It's not like she disappeared off the face of the galaxy."

The King turned to his wife with a look of hopelesness, "If I say I can't find her that means I can't find her. I don't know how she's done it, but she's completely hidden herself from the globe. It makes no sense."

"What if she has disguise herself?", I asked.

Both the King looked at me with a confused look on his face, "What do you mean William?", the King asked "Explain yourself?"

I started to get very high-strung at this point, "W-Well, she is magical after all, can't she just cast a spell on herself so no one can detect her."

The Queen backed up my case, "While it is true that you can do that Willam", the Queen began, "There's no way Star could be able to do it. For starters, she's dumb, and secondly, Star is not fluent enough in magic to be able to do that yet. The only way she could be able to do that is if she had a real wand like mine."

She turned to her husband, "Come honey, let's go see if the soildiers have returned from their search." And with that they left me alone in the room.

"Star wouldn't really steal her mother's wand would she?", I thought out loud. I looked toward the King's sized bed and started to approach it, praying that no one would come in and see me. I know that the Queen carries around a fake wand just in case anyone tries to steal it. The only reason I know where she hides her real wand is because Star told me in conversation.

I was instructed to walk Star into town one day so she could visit Tom (she wasn't aloud to go out by herself, even at the age of thirteen) and she went on about how much she just wanted to take the wand from under there and do "great things" with it.

I reached my hands under the bed and surprisingly enough, I felt something and pulled out a small suitcase. My heart raced when I saw that the lock had already been undone. I opened it and sure enough, the wand was missing."Oh crap", I mumbled. I locked the suitcase and put it back under the bed as if nothing happened.

I quickly walked out of the bedroom and closed the door behind me. I started to walk out the palace and head home. I'm not gonna tell them that Star took the wand. That's what they get for calling my friend an idiot.

* * *

Marco's POV

For the first time in my life, I actually felt happy to be alive. Everyday I wake up thinking, _"I can't handle another day of this"_ , but today I have Jackie Lynn Thomas in my bed with me and I'm holding her in my arms. I haven't opened my eyes yet because I want this moment to last as long as possible.

After a few minutes I felt something on my wrist. It was a pair of lips. Jackie was kissing my wrist. I could feel my face heat up like it was set on fire by an invisible force. Her lips were actually touching me. It's official, I am the luckiest boy on earth. I finally opened my eyes and I was surprised to see that I was wasn't hugging Jackie Lynn Thomas, I was holding Star Butterfly.

I blushed even harder when I realized that she was still kissing my wrist. "S-Star, what are you doing?"

She looked at me with a big smile and said, "I'm kissing your war scars silly."

I was confused until I realized that she was kissing my cuts. "Where were you fighting? I don't know how you get these weird little scars from fighting on a battlefield.", she asked looking at my cuts.

I was at a loss for words, not only was Star kissing me, but she had discovered my cuts. I was trying to think of a good lie but for some reason, I just couldn't think of anything. Probably because I was too busy staring at Star's half naked body. For some reason the princess wasn't wearing her nightgown, she had took it off and she was in her bra and panties. I prayed to God that she wouldn't noticed the bulge in my pants and ask what it was.

"Why aren't you wearing your nightgown?"

"You mean my sleeping dress? I took it off because it's super hot in here. Haven't you noticed I'm covered in sweat?", she said motioning toward her sweat glazed body. "And you still haven't answered my question, where did you fight in the war?"

I sighed, "I never fought in a war Star. I just have these for…reasons." Great lie dumbass.

"What kind of reasons?", she asked. "Bad reasons", I answered, "Just let it go okay?" I tried getting off the bed but Star grabbed my hand. A look of worry appeared on her face, "Marco, did someone hurt you? Who did it!? I will destroy them!"

Her sudden outburst took me by surprise but I quickly recovered, "No one hurt me Star, I was born like this." I should've came up with that fucking lie immediately.

That answer seemed to satisfy Star. She let me go and aloud me to get off the bed. I was about to leave the room but Star stopped me, "Your girlfriend said thank you." I turned back to her and she was smirking. I was doing my best not to stare at her lovely body.

"What do you mean?", I asked.

"Jackie said thank you. She said that you would know what she meant.", Star explained. "Oh.", I said. I opened the door, but before I left I said one more thing, "Jackie is not my girlfriend Star." _I'm not that lucky._

 **Authors Note: Sorry if the ending seems a bit rushed. There is so much stuff Jackie isn't telling Marco, but we'll go into that next chapter along with a bit of information about Marco's past.**

 **Marco and Star do not kiss yet, but it's coming. Please review and have a nice day.**


	12. Good guy Marco Bad guy Marco Part 1

Star's POV

As Marco was taking his shower, I was already getting dressed for school. I would've just waited for him to come out, but I was getting famished. I walked down stairs and the intoxicating smell of bacon filled my nose. I immediately ran into the kitchen and saw Marco's mother fixing bacon and pancakes.

She smiled when she noticed me, "Good morning Star. How you feeling today?", she asked.

"Oh I feel fantastic! I slept with Marco in his bed last night and I'm pretty sure he's the comfiest pillow on earth!", I said.

Marco's mom chuckled, "Well, just don't do anything too romantic if you know what I mean. I don't want my son to be a father anytime soon."

I felt my face heat up at what was implying. "Trust me ma'am, I'm not having kids anytime soon, and me and Marco aren't doing anything too romantic. Even though he is extremely cute. And nice. And smart."

Marco's mom chuckled as she turns her focus back to her cooking. "Can I ask you a question?", I asked.

"Ask me anything sweetness."

"Why is Marco so depressed?"

She suddenly froze, she was obviously caught off guard by the question. "What exactly do you mean?", she asked.

"Oh come on, you know what I mean. He's your son, I know you've noticed how he acts. Ever since I've come to earth I haven't even seen him smile once. His eyes, beautiful as they may might be, are dead. There is no emotion in them. They are a pretty shade of brown, but they might as well not be there. His voice, though comforting and soothing, is filled with sadness. I can sense it. It's full of sorrow. His face is even more emotionless than his eyes. He's cute, but after a while of looking at it, you start to realize that he barely reacts to anything. He might be happy, he might be sad, you'd never know looking at that dead face of his. Marco is definitely depressed, you must see it.", I said listing off the things wrong with her son.

Marco's mom put the last of her pancakes on a plate and sighed. The pan and spatula nearly slipping from her hands. She looked at me and sniffed like she was about to cry. "Of course I've noticed Star. I've noticed every single thing you've said and more. Much more. I just, don't know what to do anymore.", she said as tears started to stream down her face.

I went up to her and gave her a hug and let her cry on my shoulder. "I don't think he'll ever be the same again.", she cried onto my shoulder.

I was extremely taken aback by this. I asked a simple question, I didn't expect it to cause this much emotion. I decided to stay quiet and let the woman cry. She obviously needed it. She finally regained her composure and said, "Dammit! I'm so sorry Star." She wiped her tears and washed her hands.

"It's fine", reassured her, "But I have to ask, did something happen to Marco that made him this way?"

Marco's mom nodded, "A lot of things have happened to Marco to make him into the boy he is today."

"What was he like before?", I asked. Misses Diaz sniffed still recovering from her recent crying fit, "He was the complete opposite of what he is now. He was full of life. He was the happiest boy you'd ever meet and he was so outgoing, he wanted to be friends with everyone."

Marco wanted to be friends with everyone at one point? He didn't even wanna be friends with me at first. I can't possibly imagine the introvert I know today wanting to be friends with everyone.

"He even came home everyday from school everyday talking about a girl he had a crush on. Jackie Thomas I believe her name was. He was always so happy and excited when he was talking about her, it brought a smile to my face to see my boy so happy and in love", Misses Diaz said with a smile.

My jaw dropped when I heard the name "Jackie Thomas." That was obviously Jackie Lynn Thomas. Marco had a crush on Jackie! No wonder he accepted her friendship so easily. They will make the cutest couple!

"Star! I'm almost dressed! Get ready to go!", I heard Marco's voice yell from upstairs.

"Star", Misses Diaz said getting my attention, "I'm getting off of work early today so I'll be able to answer any questions you have about Marco. Until then, please don't ask him any questions, he gets annoyed very easily, ok?"

I nodded and smiled widely, "Thank you so much for helping me learn about Marco. I really appreciate it."

Before she could respond Marco came walking downstairs and stood behind me. He grabbed my hand and said, "Come on let's go." I gave him a sharp look, "Don't you think we should eat some of the food your mother made us?"

He looked at the plate full of pancakes and cringed, "I don't eat breakfast in the morning.", he said.

"Oh come on Marco, please?", I begged. The boy looked toward his mother who gave him a small smile, "Please Marco, I make a big breakfast for you every morning and you never eat it."

Marco kept his straight face, but still mumbled a quiet, "Fine."

Me and Marco sat down at the table while his mother fixed our plates. "Eat up kids", she said handing us our food. We all started to eat. I was pretty much chowing down while Marco took little bites of his bacon.

"See Marco?", I said with a mouth full of pancakes, "Eating breakfast with the whole family."

Marco just rolled his eyes and said, "Technically it's not the entire family, dad is still at work."

At the mention of her husband Misses Diaz stopped eating and gave her son a concerned look, but before she could say anything, her son interrupted her, "No mom, I am not upset that dad is almost never here. He has to make money and in order to make money he has to work. If that means he's never here, then that's just something I have to get used to. And I've gotten used to it already."

I realized that I have never seen Marco's father before. I looked at him concerned, "Why is your father always at work?", I asked.

Marco rolled his eyes, "Swallow your food and I'll tell you."

I blushed with embarrassment and swallowed all the food that was in my mouth. Marco wiped my mouth off with a weird white cloth (napkin) and said, "My father got a promotion at his job, so now he has to stay at work longer."

"What's a promotion?", I asked.

Marco sighed, "It's when a person gets more responsibility at work. More responsibility means you have to stay at work longer, if you stay at work longer that means you get more money."

"Can't you just ask the fair bank for some money?", I asked.

Marco face palmed while his mother laughed. "What I'm gonna do you?", Marco asked. "Alright Star it's time to head to school."

"What! I haven't even finished eating my pancakes yet!", I said. "Sorry princess, but there's no way we can avoid going to school.", Marco said grabbing his bag.

I sighed and hugged Marco's mother, "Thanks for being so awesome Misses Diaz.", I said before following Marco out the door.

"You kids have fun!", Marco's mom called after us.

As me and Marco started to walk down the street, I felt him grab my hand, which I understand. After what happened with that Jeremy boy the other day, I wouldn't mind him wanting to protect me against any danger we might encounter. Also, the feeling of his hand on mine is heavenly.

"So, what were you and mom talking about?", Marco asked suddenly. I was taken aback by his question but I didn't show it, "We weren't talking about you."

"Oh really?", he said sounding unconvinced, "So what were you talking about then?"

"Love.", I said without thinking.

He turned to me with his emotionless, yet beautiful eyes, "Love? You really expect me to fall for that?"

 _"I was hoping you would"_ , I thought.

"Why don't you tell me what you were really talking about, it was about me wasn't it?", Marco asked accusingly. "Okay fine", "I asked your mother if you had ever fallen in love.", I said lying threw my teeth. The boy was now completely silent. I can't really tell what he's thinking with his face being emotionless and all.

"What did she say?", he finally asked breaking the silence.

I smiled, "She said you used to come home everyday talking about a girl named Jackie Thomas, and you would be so happy whenever you were talking about her."

He blushed and groaned in annoyance. "That girl wouldn't happen to be Jackie Lynn Thomas now would she?", I taunted with a large smirk on my face.

"No.", Marco dead panned.

"Oh really? I just find it odd that...", he cut me off by putting his hand over my mouth. "I was never in love with anyone. Understand?", he said.

I rolled my eyes, "Suuuurrrre, you never had a crush on anyone before. I definitely believe you.", I said with a heavy amount of sarcasm in my voice.

Marco rolled his eyes as we continued to walk to school. We were quite for the rest of the walk with the only noise around being the cool breeze that wind gave off. As we approached the school I asked, "Do you think they'll have anymore of those hamburger things for lunch?"

"Maybe. I haven't memorized the lunch schedule. You know, I can make you a hamburger when we get home if you want?", he said.

I slowly turned to the cute boy, "R-Really?"

"Yeah. It's easy." I squealed and gave him a tight hug, "Thank you Marco! You're the best!"

Marco blushed in embarrassment, "Star, please put me down. Now." I ignored him and hugged him even harder.

"Aaaahhhhh."

I turned to my right and saw a bunch of girls looking at me and Marco. "Star, is this your boyfriend?", one of them asked.

I finally put Marco down and we both blushed. "N-No he's not my boyfriend, he's my best friend.", I said, "Although he is really cute."

Marco blushed even harder as the girls nodded their heads in agreement. "He really is a cutie", a blonde girl said.

"And look at that hair, it's so wild! It just screams bad boy!", a red hair said rubbing her hand in Marco's hair.

"Please stop", Marco said threw his gritted teeth, but his request fell on death ears.

The blonde girl started touching Marco's arm, "Oh my gosh, his arms are really big. Do you work out?"

Marco groaned, "No. Now can you please let go of my arm."

The blonde girl let go of Marco's arm, but not before squeezing it one more time. "Don't mind him, he's a bit of a grump.", I said pinching one of Marco's cheeks. "Stop pinching my cheek", Marco mumbled.

I laughed and grabbed his hand, "See you around girls!" The girls waved goodbye as me and Marco started to walk inside the school.

"Do you even know who those girls are?", Marco asked. "Nope", I said, "But they're my new friends now."

Marco face palmed, "Whatever. Just don't pinch my damn cheek anymore. It's embarrassing."

I looked at him confused, "How is being extremely adorable embarrassing?"

Marco blushed even harder, "Let me explain, I don't want girls coming up to me asking if I'm your boyfriend or telling me how cute I am. Basically, I don't want girls noticing me because I hang out with you. So please refrain from pinching my cheeks or calling me cute in public."

I rolled my eyes playfully, "Oh you're just being modest. Y'know in Mewni if a girl calls you cute that means you have good luck for a whole year."

"This isn't Mewni, Star, this is earth, and on earth there is no such thing as good luck. If a girl calls you cute here, it means absolutely nothing.", Marco said.

"Oh come on, you know that's not true. Jackie thinks you're cute, that must mean something.", I said.

Marco didn't respond, he just stayed quiet. I guess me mentioning his crush made him nervous. So cute! I absolutely need to get these two together! We continued to until suddenly I see Janna and Jackie walking up to us out of the corner of my eye.

* * *

Marco's POV

"Hi Janna! Hi Jackie!"

I cringed as I heard angelic yet loud voice call out to out two other friends. I turned and saw Janna and Jackie walking towards me and Star. I got butterflies in my stomach as I looked in Jackie's eyes. It's truly bizarre looking at her now. I used to see her as a beautiful care free girl that had no problems at all. Now I see her as a beautiful girl with a lot of problems. A girl who thinks she dosen't deserve to exist, a girl who thinks she is ugly, a girl who is abused by her parents, a girl who deserves much better than what she has. I know who the real Jackie Lynn Thomas is now, but I still think think she's perfect. I'm gonna make her believe that.

"Sup love birds", Janna greeted with her usual casualness.

"Hi guys", Jackie greeted sweetly. God damn that voice is music to my ears.

"Jackie, Janna, tell me I'm not crazy, you think Marco is cute right?", Star asked. I gave Star an angry glare, "Why must you embarrass me every chance you get?"

"I still don't understand what's so embarrassing about being cute", Star said cluelessly.

I groaned at her cluelessness as Janna and Jackie laughed. They obviously got a kick out of our bickering.

"Yes.", Janna said after she stopped laughing.

"Yes what?", I asked.

"Yes, I think you're cute, genius.", Janna said. "I-I think you're cute to", Jackie said stuttering a bit.

I blushed as Star said, "See? That's five girls now. That's five years of good luck!"

I face palmed once again. "What is she talking about?", Jackie asked.

"Don't worry about it. It's just Star being Star.", I said. "Of course it's Star being Star, who else would I be?", Star asked absolutely clueless.

Jackie and Janna laughed as I shook my head, "Forget it."

Star shrugged, "Whatever." She turned to Jackie, "So Jackie, do you wanna explain how you and Marco ended up sleeping in the same bed last night.", she said with a smirk.

Oh. My. God. I'm gonna have to kill this girl aren't I? Jackie's face immediately turned red, as did mine. Janna also had a smirk on her face, "Hold up, did you guys have sex last night?"

"What's sex?", Star asked.

I covered her ears and turned to Janna, "Don't. You. Dare!", I said with aggression in my voice. Janna put her arms up in surrender and I uncovered Star's ears.

"Me and Marco did nothing last night, we had a little talk, we got very tired, and we ended up falling asleep", Jackie said with confidence in her voice. Man she's a good liar.

"Then why was he holding you?", Star asked with another smirk. Jackie opened her mouth to come up with a lie, only to find out she didn't have one. I take back what I said.

"I have a bad habit of hugging anything around me when I'm asleep. Sometimes it's a pillow, sometimes it's a blanket, sometimes it's a girl. Me hugging Jackie was just a coincidence.", I said.

"Well th-", I put my hand over Star's mouth so she couldn't ask anymore questions.

"I'm gonna go use the restroom", I said pinching my nose. As I walked away the girls started talking to each other about God knows what. I didn't really need to go to the restroom, I just needed to get away from those girls before Star could embarrass me even more.

I walked behind the school, the most unpopulated area on school grounds and for good reason. People thought that drug dealers, homeless people, prostitutes, and creepy old dudes hung out behind the school, for some reason. One day I decided to go behind the school to test out these claims, and of course, the rumors were false. The only dangerous thing behind the school is a family of mice that were scared shitless of anyone that walked back there. I loved it. Instead of going to the cafeteria to eat lunch, I come back here to get away from everyone. It's paradise.

As I started to get closer to the back of the school, I hear voices. Two familiar voices that I know I've heard before. "What the hell?", I mumble under my breath.

As I walked closer, I could make out what the two voices were saying, "Look, I know things look bad now, but I promise you that it's gonna get better.", said a feminine yet raspy voice.

"Will you stop with that?", said a higher feminine voice, "You know damn well that things gonna get better, yet you insist on giving me false hope. Just shut up a already!"

I was taken aback by the sudden anger coming the girl with the high voice, it was like she had been holding that in for a while. My curiosity got the better of me and I slowly peeked around the corner to see who the two girls were, and to my surprise, it was Leah and Hope. The latter had tears running down her eyes. I couldn't see Leah's face so I couldn't see if she was tearing up as well.

"Hope, please listen to me. You're parents will accept you for who you are one day, and even if they don't it doesn't matter, you don't need their approval", Leah said.

 _What the hell are they talking about?_ , I thought.

Hope wasn't sobbing, but there was still tears running down her face. "B-But how can I live knowing that my parents are ashamed of me? After I told them about us, they acted like they were absolutely disgusted with me. My father can't even look at me any more!", Hope said getting frustrated at the mention of her dad.

Leah remained silent, she had nothing to say. "And what about society huh?", Hope continued, "The things we do together are seen as sinful, disgusting, and just plain wrong in our society. I don't think I can go on with a bunch of people looking down on me just because of someone I lo-", Hope suddenly stopped.

"What?", Leah asked.

Hope didn't say anything, she just pointed to something behind Leah. And that something, was me. Leah turned around and jumped when she saw me, "Marco? What the hell are you doing here?"

What's the point in lying? I've already gotten caught. "I came here to get some alone time, but I heard you two talking. I guess I just got sucked into it.", I said truthfully.

Both girls looked generally appalled by me and my spying ways. I don't blame them. "I'm sorry, this is none of my business and I shouldn't be here.", I said starting to walk away, but Leah stopped me.

"Hold on Marco", she said grabbing my shoulder and turning me around, "What did you hear?"

I just can't get a break today can I? "I heard about Hope's parents being disgusted with her, and her fears of what society would think of you two as a gay couple."

At the mention of them being a couple, Hope blushed darkly and said, "No no no no no, you must've miss heard, me and Leah aren't together."

Leah looked back at her with an angry face, "So, you really are scared of people knowing about us aren't you?", she said letting go of me.

"No it's not that", Hope said blushing even harder, "I'm just not ready for people to know about us yet, it's bad enough that my parents know."

"We've been dating for months now Hope, I've been ready to tell our friends about us since the day we started going out, why the hell is it taking you so long to grow a pair and tell everyone that we're a couple?", Leah asked getting really annoyed.

Hope started to back away from Leah, "I'm scared alright. I love you so much Leah, but I'm just terrified that people will think differently of us."

"I don't think differently of you.", I said without even thinking.

The two girls turned their attention to me and gave me weird looks, and once again, I don't blame them. I don't know what came over me, I wanted to be far away from this conversation as possible, but thanks my big mouth I'm now knee deep in it.

"What are you talking about?", Hope asked, "You barely even know us."

"Good point, see ya.", I said starting to leave, but Leah once again grabbed my shoulder and turned me around. "Where do you think you're going? You've already ease dropped you might as well stay to see the break up.", she said.

I could almost feel Hope's heart breaking when Leah said those words. "W-What?", the crying girl asked.

Leah turned to her angrily, "I'm tired of hiding our love Hope! I fucking love you with all of my heart and I want to be able to kiss you, hold your hand, and hug you in public, but you're too afraid to tell out friends about our relationship. I'm sorry Hope, but until you're ready to tell everyone about our relationship, until you're not ashamed of being in a relationship with me, we're done."

I could see it in Hope's eyes, her whole world was destroyed by those simple words. Leah stormed off quickly so no one could see her tears, but I could see them clearly and there were loads of them. As soon as Leah ran away, Hope fell on her knees and started to sob, I think she forgot that I was there. I wanted to walk away from her and let her cry, but just like Star before her, I decided to help her. I can't leave a crying girl alone, my mother would kill me. Dammit mom.

I walked over to her and got on my knees so we were both at the same level. I put my arm around her and let her cry into my chest. I stayed quiet and let her cry, there's nothing I can say. I don't know shit about relationships, anything I could say will probably make this situation a thousand times worse. God damn, first I get in a fight with Jeremy, then I get the attention of Jackie Lynn Thomas, then I get into another fight with Jeremy, then I find a princess in the bushes, then I beat the fuck out of Jeremy for hurting Star, then I find out that Jackie Lynn Thomas, the girl I have a crush on, cuts herself, and finally, I'm sitting here with my arm around a crying lesbian. How the fuck do I get myself in these situations?

I stayed there with the crying girl for a good five minutes, my t-shirt was soaked with salty tears. Hope finally stopped sobbing and looked at me, "Why are you still here with me? I know you don't want to be here.", she said.

"A long time ago my mother told me that I can never leave a crying girl alone. She said that the rudest thing a man can do is leave a crying women women alone. Honestly, if she hadn't told me that, I wouldn't be here right now.", I admitted.

Hope sniffs, "At least you're honest, which is something I'll never be", she said looking at the ground.

Every fiber of my being was telling me to just get up and leave, but instead I asked, "What do you mean?"

She looked at me and said, "I've been lying to myself for so long. I've been trying to deny that I'm gay, but whenever I see Leah, I just wanna hug her and kiss her forever. I just wish we didn't have to hide our love."

"Then why don't you just tell your friends about your relationship? I'm sure they'll be super supportive of it.", I said fixing her messy hair.

"You don't understand", Hope said, her eyes filling with tears, "People in this world hate people like me and Leah. Remember when you heard me say society is disgusted by the things me and Leah do? I'm afraid that my friends will be the same way. If my own parents think I'm a freak, then what makes you think my friends won't think the same?"

Admittedly, I know what she's talking about. I don't keep up with the news, but I know that gay people are hated for reasons I'm not really sure about (I don't care about it at all really, it's just two guys (or girls in this case) fucking, who gives a shit?), and some people who have confessed to being gay have been kicked out of their homes by their parents. There's even one news story about a woman who tried to sue every gay person on earth (ha) because she believed that gay people were breaking the law.

It was really stupid situation that hurt a lot of people that that didn't even deserve it. Hell, it made an innocent girl like Hope cry, and that's awful. No parent should be disgusted with their child just because of who they are in love with (even if it's a guy like me who doesn't deserve love). I couldn't help but feel sorry for the crying girl I had my arm around, she didn't deserve to be sad. No girl deserves to be sad, especially for something as dumb as this.

But what can I say to cheer her up? I'm antisocial for many reasons, and having no social skills or compassion for other people once so ever our one of the main reasons why. I'm terrible when it comes to one on one conversations, but now that I think about it, I'm getting pretty good at them thanks to my countless talks with Star and Jackie. But I still have another problem, I know both about comforting people. The only thing I can come up with is 'Get over it!", but I get the feeling that that wouldn't help at all.

Well, maybe I can still say that, but in a less hurtful way. "Marco", Hope said knocking me out of my thoughts, "I'm just gonna go ahead and head to class", she said getting up.

She started to walk away, but I grabbed her by the skirt, "Wait."

She turned around slowly and gave me an odd look, but she stayed with me nonetheless. "I'm not gonna lie, I'm horrible at things like this, in fact whatever I say will probably make this situation worse, but I don't think you need to listen to me.", I said.

Hope scoffed and wiped some tears out of her eyes with her shirt, "Why should I listen to you? Your just gonna tell me the same thing Leah has been telling me for months. What can you possibly say that's gonna help me get over my fear?", she asked.

I shook my head, "No, I'm not gonna tell you what Leah's been telling you, I'm gonna tell you the truth." Hope raised an eyebrow and I continued, "You should be scared about showing your love in front of everyone because the world is filled with millions of assholes who can't handle the fact that gay people exist. I'm not saying that everyone is like that, only the small minority of morons, but if you let hat small minority get to you, then you're weak. You're weak because you can't face your fears and show the world who you really are. But you're not weak are you?"

Hope slowly shook her head.

"Well then face your fears and forget about the small minded minority because those idiots are always going to be there, you can't let them get in your head. You have the right to pursue happiness, don't worry about what a bunch of morons who don't even know you have to say. And as for your parents, fuck em. If they truly loved you then they wouldn't get mad at you over something as pointless as love."

Now if you asked me, I probably could've worded that entire rant better, but I'm terrible with words of encouragement. My random jumbled mess of a speech seemed to have made an impact on her though as she stopped crying and seemed to be in deep though.

After a couple of moments of just standing there, she finally looked me in the eyes and said, "Thanks Marco. I'll think about what you said", and with that she left me there alone.

I was stunned that she was actually able to understand that none sense, I mean it had good intentions behind it, but it was still none sense. I shrugged it off though because at the end of the day, if that dumb speech helped her, then I have nothing to complain about. I started to walk back to Star and the others. When I got back the girls were sitting on the benches still talking about God knows what, that's all girls ever talk about, at least to me.

My heart stopped when Jackie Lynn Thomas turned to me with her adorable smile and motioned for me to sit next to her. I got a little nervous but I was able to overcome it and sit next to the beautiful girl. She grabbed my hand and said, "Guess what Star told me."

"Do I have a choice?", I asked sarcastically.

She playfully punched me n the arm and said, "Star told me that you wanted to invite me to a sleepover at your house tonight."

My eyes went wide as I loved over at Star, "Oh did she now?"

Star just smiled and giggled. I'm gonna have to kill this girl one day aren't I?

"I accept", Jackie said as she kissed me on the cheek. I blushed darkly while Janna and Star giggled like preschool girls. I was going to tell them to shut up, but the sound of the school alarm bell cut me off. It was time to head to first period.

Star jumped up and grabbed my hand, "Let's get to class Marco!", she said jumping up and down. I groaned while Janna and Jackie laughed. They love it when I'm annoyed don't they?

The time between first period and lunch is a blur as I was struggling to stay awake threw most of it. I was up pretty late last night dealing with the whole Jackie situation so I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. All the classes today were pretty much review and catch up days for those who needed extra help with the material we were learning.

Star, being the new kid, didn't have to do any of these things, so she just drew on her desk with a crayon she found on the floor. Normally the teacher would tell her to stop, but sense Star is a beautiful princess and everyone wants to get on her good side, she let her do what she wanted. People still haven't gotten over the fact that there is now a princess at our school. I can tell by the stares Star was receiving from all the students in the classroom.

Anyway, since I didn't need to do any work, I just went to sleep on my desk, but I regret doing that now because I had another dream. It wasn't like the dream with the dead dog and the injured Jackie, it was worse, way worse.

 **Authors Note: I know this chapter was pretty uneventful, but this is mainly a set up for the next chapter witch is gonna have a lot of stuff in it. I want everything thing in this story to have meaning, whether it's a minor plot element or a major event. I hope you enjoyed this chapter everyone.**


	13. Good guy Marco Bad guy Marco Part 2

**Author's Note: Fun fact about this story, Marco's personality in this story is loosely based off a song called "My World" by the Descendents. The narrator in the song is going threw a depression and he doesn't talk to any of his loved ones. It's a cool song and I figured that some of you might be interested in where some of the inspiration for Marco's personality in this story came from.**

 **Okay I'm done rambling, let's get on with this fucked up chapter.**

Marco's POV

It happened again. I had another dream. And it was much worse than the last one.

It started off just like the last one, I was in complete darkness and I was calm. I didn't find it weird that I was once again surrounded in pitch black, but I hadn't forgotten about what happened last time I was in a place like this.

Even though I was calm, I still didn't want to move. I just sat down, crossed my legs, and waited for something to happen. I probably sat there for a good twenty minutes before I started to get tired. I knew I couldn't fall asleep though, there was no way in hell I was falling asleep just to have someone kidnap me while I'm unconscious. I just stayed up and constantly looked around me in case anything was to suddenly attack me in the darkness. I also listened intently for even the slightest sound. I don't wanna here any fucking barking. I'm not above snapping another stupid dog's neck.

I sat there for what felt like a few hours and nothing happened. I was getting bored. I practically waiting for something to occur at this point. I'll later regret that. My boredom started getting the best of me and I was starting to dose off, but a loud noise put a stop to that.

BANG!

It scared the living shit out of me and I ducked for cover thinking a bullet was coming my way. After a minute of staying that position, I slowly picked my head up and started to stand up. "What the hell?", I said out loud. There was no answer. I didn't know what to do. I was now incredibly freaked out, which is saying something for me. If I'm gonna get shot, so be it, but I would like to see who's shooting me at least.

Then I did the stupidest thing I've ever done and will do, I started to walk toward the direction of the sound. I'm not sure why, I just felt like I needed to. As I walked in the direction of the sound, I thought to myself, "What the hell am I doing? No good can possibly come of this." Then again, I am a fucking moron so of course I'll make the stupid decisions.

I walked in the direction of the sound for a couple of minutes before I finally saw something, it looked like someone lying on the ground, I immediately assumed the worse. As I got closer I realized that the body was that of a little girl. A little girl with red hair and a light blue dress. Were wore black cow girl boots. For some reason, her attire made me feel...odd. There was something about this girl that seemed familiar to me.

I was too busy focusing on her clothes that I didn't notice the bullet whole on the girl's back.

"Meh", I thought aloud. I was quite unfazed by death, even if it's a little kid. Little kids should be lucky if they die early, that way they won't have to witness the evil bullshit of this planet. I wanted to walk away, but my curiosity got the better of me, I wanted to see the girls face. I'm not sure why, it's not like I was gonna tell the parents or anything. I knew that it was just a dream.

I bent down and slowly rolled the girl onto the back to see her face and a chill went down my spine. I definitely knew this girl from somewhere, but I didn't know where. She seemed so familiar. 'Maybe she's a family member or something?', I thought. But even if that was the case, why the hell am I dreaming about a dead family member that I barely remember?

With no answers to my questions, I decided to do the thing I do best, walk away from my problems. I walked away from the dead girl's body. I didn't know where I was going, I just knew that I had to leave and get away from the dead girl.

I was only about five feet away from the body before I heard at sent a chill down my spine.

"THATS RIGHT, WALK AWAY FROM YOUR PROBLEMS LIKE YOU ALWAYS DO YOU COWARD!", a very feminine voice screamed at me.

I froze in place and started to sweat bullets. I knew something or someone, was behind me, but there's no way I'm looking.

"TURN AROUND AND FACE ME!", "The voice said.

Without even thinking, I around and saw the little girl who I thought was dead. She was standing up on her own power and she didn't look to be in any pain at all, besides the blood dripping for the bullet hole in her chest.

"YOU WERE JUST GONNA LEAVE ME THERE!?", the girl screamed.

"Yeah.", I said. I know that sounds horrible, but remember, this is a dream. This psycho little kid doesn't exist.

I was expecting the little kid to scream at me, but she didn't, instead, she started to cry. Tears started to slowly fall from her eyes and she started to whimper. Oh crap. Not another crying girl. I can't get a break can I? Even though this is a dream, I still can't leave a crying girl alone. Dammit mom.

I walked up to the little girl and put my arm on her shoulder, "I'm sorry. I should've at least checked if you were alive. I apologize for being heartless." The one thing I'm good at is lying. Shocking.

The girl looked at me with tears in her hazel eyes, "Do you think I'm pretty?", she asked.

I gave her an odd look. It was a weird question to ask, considering the fact that she was just yelling at me a couple of minutes ago, but I answered the question nonetheless, "Yeah, you're a cute little kid.", I said awkwardly.

The girl giggled, "You should see me now, I'm smoking hot."

"What does that mean?", I asked as I started to get weirded out.

She gave me a seductive smirk that freaked me out, "I'm way hotter now than the last time you saw me. It's too bad my parents won't let us see each other. I would really like to see how you look like now. I bet you look sexy as hell. I wanna fuck your brains out one day."

That was by far the creepiest thing I have ever heard a little girl day. And to top it all off, what she was saying didn't make any sense at all.

I was about to say something, but the kid cut me off, "If only I knew who you really were though, then I wouldn't want to fuck. I would just want to stay away from you. And soon all those girls you mean so much to, will realize how much of horrible person you are and abandon you, and then you'll be alone. Just like you've always been."

The girl's face changed from a smirk to a flat out sadistic smirk. "I still love you though Marco. No matter how much of heartless fuck you are.", she said. And with that, she passed out on the floor dead. I was extremely worried that she wasn't actually dead, so I kicked her body, I got no reaction.

She really was dead this time, or at least I hoped she was. I started to back away from her slowly and tried to recuperate after what just happened. Did that little girl just say she wanted to fuck me? What was that shit about our parents not letting us see each other? How does she even know me!?

I finally turned my back to the body and walked as quickly as I could. I never want to see a little girl again for as long as I live. Soon my quick walking turned to full on sprinting as I became petrified at the thought of the little girl talking to me again.

After five minutes of sprinting, I finally stopped and collasped on the floor. I was exhausted, emotionally drained, and pissed off. I was pissed off because I still hadn't woken up from this twisted dream yet.

I decided to lie on the floor and rest, but my plans of doing that were squashed as soon as a horrible aroma made its way up nose. It was by far the worst thing I've ever smelt in my life. I wish I could explain to you how bad it smelt, but I can't, It was unlike anything I had ever smelt before. I didn't even wanna go see the source of the hideous oder, but because of my extreme interest and stupidity, I tried to find it. Once again, I would soon regret that.

I walked in the direction where the smell was most powerful and I immediately gagged as the smell continued to get more powerful the more I walked. Jesus. I would honestly spend a day in a room filled with a million baby diapers filled with shit than stand another minute of this. I was about to walk away but I heard something that alarmed me, crying, but not just any crying, my mother crying.

My mother crying was by far the most painful thing I've ever had to witness in my life. I've only seen my mother cry five times in my life, and every time I wanted to just hug her and make whatever was troubling her go away. I know this is just a dream, but I don't give a damn, my mother is crying and I'm gonna be there for her. Suddenly the horrible smell of God knows what didn't effect me as I started to actively look for my mother. I started calling her name, but I got no response, just more crying.

This is hell. I'm walking in pitch black darkness looking for my crying mother, and to top it all, there Is dreaful smell that I can't even identify. I would say there's no way this could be any worse, but I don't wanna jinx it.

After walking for what seemed like forever, I finally saw something in the distance. It was a table, and at the end of the table, my mother was sitting in a chair, sobbing. I quickened my pace and stood next to her.

"Mom? Are you okay?", I asked her. She didn't answer me, or even face me, she just continued to sob.

"Mom, it's me Marco. Talk to me, are you okay?", I said trying to get her to talk. She finally turned to me and I got a shot of a blood shot eyes. It looked like she had been crying for a while. "What's wrong Mom? Why are you crying?", I asked.

She gave me a sharp glare that sent a cold chill down my spine. She was looking at me like she truly despised me. That is a look you never want to see from a parent.

"You really wanna know?", she said finally saying something after what felt like an eternity of staring. "You really wanna know what's wrong?"

I nodded my head fearing that I was gonna get slapped. "The problem is you. It's always been you. You should've never been born.", she said glaring a whole into my heart. "You are the reason why me and your father have spent so much money. You are the reason me and your father are the outcast of the neighborhood. You are the reason my mother dosen't wanna see me. You are the reason my life is full of disappointment. I hate the fact that I once I had your pathetic body inside of me."

I never thought I would here my own mother say something like that to me. Through out my entire life, I have done some terrible things, and people have said some terrible things to me that I deserve to hear, but my mother and father have never said anything like that to me, even though I really deserved it. Now that my mother actually is saying it, it makes me want to die. I knew it was all true, but there was something about hearing it from my mother that made me feel like a puppy being ran over by a truck.

"Why can't you just die!?", my mother said starting to yell, "I've tried everything! Poisoning your food, smothering you, and drowning you, but nothing works! Will you do the world a favor and just kill yourself already!?"

My heart felt like it had been ripped in two. My own mother telling me to kill myself is something I never thought I would here, and now that I've heard it, I realize that she's right. I should kill myself before I hurt more people than I already have. It only makes sense.

"If I were you, I would either kill yourself or lock yourself in your room because your not doing anyone any good by staying alive", my mother said. Before I could respond telling her that she was right, she slapped me in the face and knocked me unconscious.

After that, I woken up by Star shaking me, "Wake up Marco", she said, "It's time for lunch."

As I looked into the big beautiful eyes of Star Butterfly, I realized that I couldn't kill myself, not yet at least. I have come up with a plan, the day I hurt Star, is the day I kill myself.

* * *

Star's POV

A Marco walked me to the eating room, I noticed that he was more distant than usual. Ever since I woke him up from his nap, he's had this weird, freaked out look on his face. It's like he saw something in his dream that scared him. Maybe I should just dismiss it as a bad dream. Even I'm a bit shaken after I have a freaky dream.

When we entered the food room, Marci (my new nickname for him, don't tell him though) and I were immediately the center of attention. Boys stared at me while girls winked at Marco, although I don't think he really saw any of it considering the fact that he was looking down the whole time.

Me and Marco quickly got our food (due to everyone letting us cut Infront of them) and made our way to our usual table. As we approached the table, the actions of Leah and Hope caught my attention. They were spoon feeding each other which I thought was quite considering that's a thing that couples…OMG!

I ran over to the table and asked, "Are you two dating!?"

Leah and Hope were taken aback by my outburst, but they eventually smiled and said, "Yes", at the same time.

I squeaked like a fan girl, "Oh my god you two are so cute! I'll admit, I would never guess you two would be a couple, mostly because I've never seen two females date before."

Marco sat down next to me and said, "Earth is a fucked up place, anything can happen here."

"I didn't even know that two females could mate! So, when are you going to have the baby?", I asked.

Janna spit out her milk and arrupted in a fit of laughter as her milk nearly collided with Marco's face and Jackie giggled. Hope's face was red as a tomato while Leah chuckled, "Two girls can't make a baby here on earth Star. In fact, it's rare that you see two females in love here."

"That's why we were so surprised when we saw them holding hands", Janna said, she seemed to still be in shock, "I still can't get over it."

"Did you two just become a couple today?", Jackie asked.

Leah shook her head, "Nope, me and Hope have been dating in secret for three months now. This is the first time we've done anything as a couple in public."

That statement caused everybody at the table by surprise and caused us all to stop what we were doing, except Marco who wasn't even paying attention.

"You two have been dating for three months and you didn't tell us?", Janna asked. You could tell that she was a little upset. "Did you really think that we would judge you?", Jackie asked equally upset.

Leah gave Hope a look to which the brown haired girl sighed, "Leah wanted to tell you guys, but I was worried about everyone knowing that I was gay. I thought that everyone was gonna shun us."

"Why would people shun you?", I asked.

"Do you want the long answer or the short answer?", Janna asked.

"Short answer", I said. "People suck.", Janna said nonchalantly.

"She's not wrong", Marco said before going back to his food.

"So what made you get over your fear of going around in public as a couple Hope?", Jackie asked. Everyone's attention turned to Hope, even her girlfriend looked at her expectingly.

Hope turned her attention to Marco who was in the middle of trying to sneak away.

"Aw fuck", he said.

"Me and Leah had a falling out earlier which led to Leah breaking up with me because she didn't like hiding our relationship. Marco saw the whole thing and gave me a rather…interesting pep talk.", Hope explained.

Everyone looked at Marco with surprised looks, "What did he say to you?", Leah asked not turning her attention away from Marco.

"Well basically, he told me that I should face my fears and I shouldn't let the thoughts of other people get in the way of my happiness. Without Marco telling me the that, I wouldn't have gotten over my fear, and I'm so glad he did because now I can do this in public", Hope kissed Leah on the cheek causing her to blush.

"Ahh", I said, "You two are so cute! I can't wait for the wedding!"

Leah gave Marco a wide smile, "Thanks for giving Hope the confidence she needed Marco, we really owe you one."

Marco rolled his eyes, "You don't need to thank me, in a few years you're not even gonna remember each other."

Everyone's jaw dropped at what he just said. I punched him the stomach and said, "Why would you say something like that? That is so mean!"

He rolled his eyes again, "What? It's true. Relationships in high school never last."

"A relationship can last forever Marco, unless one of the people in the relationship try to turn the other into their slave by making them drink a potion. Then the relationship will end terribly.", I said.

"Well luckily on earth we don't have to deal with that stuff. Unless you're dating a witch doctor or something.", Marci said.

"I'd rather date a witch doctor than another demon, I've heard witch doctors have a lot of gold and can buy anything their lovers desire", I said dreamily.

"Um, what the hell are you guys talking about?', Janna asked. Me and Marco turned around and saw our friends looking at us like we had just grown wings and started eating our own skin like a cannibal fairy. I'll admit, I forgot that they were there.

"Don't worry about it", Marco said taking a sip of his water.

"So, when are you two having a baby?", Janna asked with a smirk causing the others to laugh.

I rolled my eyes, "Me and Marco are not having a baby Janna. Not yet anyway. It would be nice to have a baby with Marco, he seams like he would be a good father. Not to mention the fact that our kids would be so cute! Can you imagine little babies with adorable brown eyes and blond hair?", I said fantasizing about the potential kids me and Marco could have.

The girls at the table giggled while I Marco was blushing furiously. "I'm gonna go outside for a while.", Marco said while getting up from his seat.

"I'll come with you", Jackie said with a shy smile. Marco nodded and started to walk off with Jackie not far behind him.

"Do you think they're gonna make out?", Leah asked teasingly. "Absolutely, Jackie couldn't stop staring at Marco the entire time he was talking to Star.", Janna said confidently.

"Do you think she was thinking about having babies with Marco to?", I asked.

Janna chuckled, "As a matter of fact, yes, yes I do."

* * *

Marco's POV

"You're wearing a shit load of makeup on your wrist aren't you?", I asked Jackie. She nodded and said, "I always put make on my wrist before I leave the house."

"Do your parents even buy you things?", I asked, "They don't sound like they care enough about you to buy you make up."

"You're right, they don't care about me and they don't buy me anything", Jackie said, "I just steal it, or ask Janna for it."

I gave her a confused look, "So you go into the stores and steal?"

Jackie shook her head, "No. I steal food from the refrigerator, I steal my mother's make up, and if I can't find anything I need around the house, I just ask Janna if I can borrow it. It's how I manage to survive."

"What if your parents find out about you stealing from them?", I asked.

The gorgeous girl just shrugged, "They already abuse me and rape me, the worse they can do is kill me. I'm fine with that."

I cringed at the word "rape". It hurt me to hear about the girl I love being abused and used in such a brutal way. I wanted to beat up her parents like I beat up Jeremy.

"I can tell that you're angry at the thought of my parents abusing me", Jackie said grabbing my hand firmly, the feeling of her skin on mine sent a chill down my spine, "It's okay. I'm not mad about it anymore. You become used to it, it's part of my schedule."

I was getting angrier now, "You shouldn't have to get used to things like that. No one should have to go through what you do."

"True", Jackie said nodding, "But sometimes, life is unfair."

"I guess you're right", I said calming down, "But it's still wrong."

We were silent for a little while just enjoying being in each other's company. It was a beautiful sunny day and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. Hell, it couldn't been a miserable rainy day and it wouldn't matter, I'm with the most beautiful girl on earth and that's enough for me.

Out of the blue Jackie said something, "Do you wanna know a secret?", she asked.

I nodded. She took a deep breath and said, "The day I graduate from high school, I'm going to commit suicide."

 **Author's Note: I'm gonna end this chapter right here. Next chapter is gonna be the chapter with the sleepover where information about Marco's past is revealed. It was gonna take place on this chapter but I wasn't happy with the results after I wrote it so I just deleted it. Next chapter is gonna have the sleepover and I promise it will be great (I hope).**


	14. Sleepover Part 1

**Warning: This chapter contains heavy subject matter such as rape, abuse and other topics.**

Marco's POV

"Marco? Marco? Marco, you with me?", Jackie said waving her hand in front of my face. I was completely aware that she was doing it, but I was too stunned to respond. She wanted to kill herself. It took a while for the realization to sink in, but once it did, I couldn't get the thought out of my head.

"W-Why?", I asked stuttering over my words, "Why would you want to do that? You have so much to live for."

Jackie rolled her eyes and said, "Stop lying to me. I have nothing to live for. I'm ugly, stupid, and fat. No one would miss me if I killed myself." She had completely ignored my question.

"Jackie, answer me.", I said putting my arm on her shoulder. She turned away from me and stayed quiet. "Jackie, I'm here for you. You can tell me anything. I won't judge you.", I said turning her toward me so I could look into her beautiful eyes that shined like diamonds. God damn her eyes are amazing.

She started to tear up a bit, "God dammit this is harder than I thought. Why am I always so nervous around you?", she asked rhetorically. That statement caught me off guard. Was she really always nervous around me? If she was, them she did a damn good job hiding it.

She finally wiped away her tears and said, "I can't take it anymore Marco. I can't go on another living with my parents. They're gonna rule my life and I can't stop them." I was about to say something, but Jackie put her finger over my mouth and continued, "And every time I go to school, I feel like everyone is staring at me, like they no my secret, like they know that I cut myself, like they know that I have abusive parents. I try to act normal and fit in, but I'm dying inside. I can't go on pretending like I'm okay when I'm actually dying inside. I don't see myself getting better, do you?"

She removed her finger from in front of my mouth and said, "I don't think I can get better, so what's the point of even trying? I'm done with trying, I'm done with getting help, I'm tired of pretending to be a happy little Jackie, I'm tired of being raped by my parents, and killing myself is the only way to make it all stop."

There were visible tears running down her face as she told me her reasons for planning her death. I'll admit, I had absolutely nothing to say. The one time I actually wanted to open my big fat mouth and I can't do it.

"See?", Jackie said sounding like she was about to sob, "You don't have anything to say because you know I'm right."

"No", I said, "I have nothing to say because I'm trying to recover from the shock. Jackie, I've loved you since kindergarten, and I would've never suspected that underneath your angel like outside, was a girl like you."

"A girl like me?", Jackie asked.

"A girl that deserves the world, but instead gets treated like she's nothing. Jackie you are ama-" I was cut off by Jackie slapping me in the face as hard as she could. It wasn't hard enough to knock me on the ground, but god damn it stung.

"Will you stop with that?", Jackie asked holding her hand as if the slap hurt her to, "I hate being given false hope and you just keep trying to tell me that I'm amazing. I'm not. I'm a waste of space. When I'm gone no one will miss me."

"You're wrong", I said, "I would miss you. Star would miss you. Janna would miss you. Leah would miss you. Hope would miss you. And I would certainly miss you. I would be devastated if you died. I love you Jackie. I really fucking love you. I know you have no hope for the future, but let me try and give you it."

"But why?", Jackie said sounding soulless, "Why do you want to help?"

"Because I love you Jackie.", I said getting closer to her. I never thought I would do something like this, but I knew that it was the perfect time to do it. I cupped Jackie's cheeks and kissed her on the lips. It was the greatest feeling of all time. I was finally kissing the gorgeous Jackie Lynn Thomas.

Jackie's eyes were wide at first, but then she closed her eyes and started to kiss me back. Her participate only made the kiss even more incredible. Jackie's lips tasted like candy dipped maple syrup. Oh god it felt amazing. Jackie got bold and slipped her tongue in my mouth making the kiss even more intense. The kiss lasted for a few good seconds before we finally broke it. There was nothing but a string of saliva connecting us.

Jackie wiped her mouth and said, "That. Was. Amazing."

I nodded, "It was. Was that your first kiss?"

"Yes", she said with a goofy smile, "Was I good?'

"You were amazing. My god, I've never felt so good in my life.", I said in amazement. That was her first kiss? How has a girl as beautiful as this never kissed at least one guy before? That is just a crime against humanity. "Look, I love you, but I don't wanna rush into a relationship with you yet.", Jackie said, "I'm too scared to be in a relationship."

"I understand, but let me give you hope and give me a chance to make you happy, please.", I said practically begging.

Jackie kissed me on the cheek and said, "Okay. I'll give you a chance to show me hope."

I smiled and grabbed her hand, "You won't regret this my emerald, I'm gonna turn your whole life around."

* * *

Star's POV

"So if you use the restroom in the street, you get arrested?", I asked.

"Yep", Janna confirmed.

"That's outrageous!", I said.

"I know right? If I wanna pee on a fire hydrant, then I will pee on a fire hydrant. I don't care what the law says.", Janna said crossing her arms.

Hope groaned, "This is the most disgusting conversation I've ever had the displeasure of hearing. Please stop this."

Leah chuckled, "You think that's disgusting? That's weird coming from the girl who wanted to-" She didn't het to finish her statement as Hope quickly covered her mouth. "I thought we were going to keep that between us?", Hope asked rhetorically.

I was about to ask what was going on when I heard a voice that sent a chill down my spine.

"Where's Marco."

I would recognize that voice anywhere and I hoped that I would never hear it again. I prayed that I was wrong and turned around. Sure enough, it was Jeremy. The evil boy that hurt me. We all cringed at his scared face. He had a line of weird black things (stitches) on his forehead, his eye was purple (he has a black eye) and he had bruises all over his face.

"Didn't you hear me? I asked where Marco was.", Jeremy said. His voice was not intimidating anymore, it was weak and raspy. I stayed quiet as I was still scared of him. His voice might have been weak, but he was still strong and powerful.

Janna, being the boldest of all of us, spoke up, "We don't know where he is, so why don't you just go away you jerk."

Insulting him might not of been the right move as it only angered Jeremy. He didn't do anything rash, but the look on his face showed that he was getting angry. "I-I just wanted to give him this note.", Jeremy said showing us the envelope in his hand. His voice was shsky as if he was trying not to yell.

Janna raised an eyebrow and said, "Fine. Give it to me and I'll make sure he receives it.", she said holding her hand out.

Jeremy looked like he had trouble trusting Janna, and honestly, I don't blame him. In the short time I've known her, I've learned that you can't trust Janna with the simplest of request. Janna noticed this and groaned, "Oh for fuck sake just give it to me you idiot."

That "idiot" insult really struck a nerve because in a blink of an eye Jeremy had a fist full of Janna's shirt and had her up in the air. Everyone in the food eating room was looking at Jeremy and Janna, but no one did anything. They were too afraid. Jeremy could beat Janna into a bloody pulp, and Janna knew it, but there was no fear in her eyes.

"If I were you, I would watch my mouth before I get serious hurt like blonde over here", Jeremy said pointing to me.

"Yeah, keep beating up on innocent girls, that'll earn people's respect", Janna trying to break free from the evil boy's grip.

Jeremy chuckled evilly, "I don't need people's respect, I need people to fear me like your dumb blonde friend.", he said once again pointing at me.

"What did you just call her?", we heard a voice ask.

We all turned around and an angry Marco standing there with Jackie Lynn Thomas standing behind him. I got behind Leah for I was scared of Marci when he was angry. His face had the look of a Mewni gobkac (the Mewni version of a bear) after it has witnessed a hunter kill it's baby. Jackie looked like she was just as scared as I was.

Jackie grabbed his shoulder and said, "Marco, calm down. Remember what happened last time?" Her words fell on deaf ears. Marco took her hand off his shoulder and walked toward Jeremy. The evil boy saw this and put Janna down.

"Did I just hear you call Star stupid?", he asked getting closer to him.

"You heard me. What are you going to do about it?", Jeremy asked practically daring Marco to do something.

Marco stopped when he and Jeremy were face to face, and then he said, "No one insults my Star. No one."

My cheeks went red and my heart started to pound crazy fast against my chest. Did he just call me his Star? I wanted to smile so badly, but considering the situation that I'm in right now, I don't think that would be appropriate.

Before Marco could even raise his first, Jackie grabbed his shoulder once again and said, "Marco, please don't do this." The worry in her voice was extremely present.

Marco sighed and said, "Fine. Just get the hell away from Star, Jeremy."

Jeremy smirked, "I'm not here for your little friend, I'm just here to give you this." Jeremy handed Marco the letter and the brown haired boy inspected it.

"What is this shit?", Marco asked, his patience wearing thin.

"This is a letter from my father", Jeremy said, "It says that if you ever assault me, insult me, or disrespect me again, my family will take yours to court. And since I assume you can't understand that, it means my family will sue yours if you ever harm me again."

I wasn't quite sure what all that meant, but the gasps coming from Janna signalized that it wasn't good. Marco just stared at the envelope for a couple of seconds before tearing it in half. He threw the pieces on the ground and stomped on them. Jeremy's eyes went wide as he saw Marco disrespect the message from his father.

"Listen to me and listen good Jeremy", Marco said looking into Jeremy's eyes, "I don't give a fuck about you, your family, or the power you have, so you can take your lawsuit threats and stick them up your ass."

Jeremy's eyes went wide as Janna was trying (and failing) to keep her laughter silent. "Who the hell do you think you are talking to me like that? Do you know who I am!? I can see it that your mother and father will never work in this town again! Is that what you want, Diaz?", Jeremy threatened.

Any normal person would back down at this point, but Marco wasn't normal. Marco did an odd gesture and said, "Fuck you, you fucking cunt."

Everyone in the food room gasped as Jeremy jumped on top of Marco and started raining down punches on him. The punches seemed like they had no affect though as Marco was able to summon enough strength to lift Jeremy off of him and above his shoulders and throw him over to another table. Everyone was shocked. How on earth did Marco pick up a guy twice his size without even breaking a sweat!?

Jeremy's back was obviously injured as he was rubbing his back and groaning in pain. "You wanna give up yet?", Marco asked. I prayed that Jeremy would quit, I didn't like seeing Marco like this.

"Fuck you!", Jeremy yelled at him. He jumped up to attack Marco, but the red hooded boy moved out the way and Jeremy hit his head on the ground. Marco preceded to kick Jeremy in the stomach with all his might. The kicks seemed endless and they didn't seem like they would end. When Marco finally stopped kicking him, he backed up and asked, "Do you quit yet?"

Jeremy started to get back up, but he his stomach was obviously hurting, he could barely hold himself. Jeremy opened hisouth and body said, "Fuck you and your family you stupid border bandit. You and your family will be hearing from my lawyers."

I had no clue what a "border bandit" was, but everyone was shocked at when Jeremy said that. Marco was incredibly angry now. He ran up to Jeremy and kicked him in his private parts. Jeremy screamed in agony as he fixed on his back clutching his crouch. Marco's assault continued as he got on top of Jeremy and started to rain down punches like there was no tomorrow.

I closed my eyes so I couldn't see the punches, but it was no use as I could still hear them. They sounded like a huge gold hammer ringing the gold Mewni bell at dawn, and they wouldn't cease. I just wanted it to stop. I hated violence and hearing it was probably worse. I also hated that Marco was the taking part in said violence. I didn't love scary, angry Marco, I loved caring, nurturing, loving Marco.

"Marco! Stop it!"

* * *

Marco's POV

"Marco! Stop it!"

I looked up at the source of the yell that snapped me out of my murderous state, it was Star. She has tears streaming down her face, "Please stop Marco.", she said begging.

I looked down at Jeremy's face, it was covered in blood and his his breathing was heavy. I looked around me and saw everyone in the cafeteria looking at me like I was a monster. I looked over to my..."friends" and saw that they were also terrified. Hope was hiding behind Leah who was just as scared as she was. Janna was, surprising, really freaked out. I've never seen her scared before. And finally, Jackie. Jackie also looked like she was afraid of me.

That was the breaking point. Everyone knows what a monster I now, so to get away from their staring, I ran out of the cafeteria and out of the school. I ran out of the doors and ran like the wind. I wanted to get far away from the school, but a angelic voice stopped me. "Marco wait!"

I turned around and saw Star running as fast as she can to catch up to me. When she finally did I hugged her as tightly as I could and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose my temper like that. I don't know what got into me." I was lying out of my ass. I knew exactly what had gotten into me.

Star hugged me back and said, "It's okay. Just, please, never do anything like that again. I really hate violence."

I nodded and said, "Of course."

"As uncomfortable as that was to watch", Star said starting to blush a bit, "I do appreciate you slapping him around a bit for calling me dumb. And, what exactly did you mean by, 'your Star?"

I blushed a bit and said, "Well, I've taken it upon myself to protect you. I don't want anything to hurt you. You are truly too innocent for this messed up world and I want to make sure you're okay. You're amazing Star and I'm gonna protect you like you were my very own princess, same with the others. I'm not gonna let anything her any if you."

Star's face was completely red after what I told her. Her face was almost as red as Jackie's after me and her kissed.

"Aaaaaaawwww", we heard someone say behind us. We both looked behind us and saw the girls standing there, their cheeks were red as tomatoes. Jackie had her mouth coveted signaling that she was probably the one that said "aw."

"That was so sweet", Hope said dreamily.

"Did you really mean that Marco? About protecting us?", Jackie asked.

I nodded nervously, "Yes. You guys are the only friends I've ever had in my life. I'd be devastated if something were to happen to any of you." While all of that was true, there is still one factor in why attack Jeremy as viscously as I did, but I can't tell them that. I'll never be able to tell them that.

"T-Thank you.", Star said. Before I could reply, she kissed me on the lips. This time a chorus of "aahhs" came from all the girls. I was shocked by the action, but after some encouragement from Jackie of all people, I started to kiss back. The kiss was absolutely amazing, it was just as good as my kiss with Jackie, maybe even better. Also, I've never noticed before, but Star's mouth is surprisingly normal. Seeing as she's from another dimension, you'd expect there to be something different about her mouth, but it's completely normal and magical.

When the kiss finally broke, I was almost completely out of breath, while Star looked like she was ready for another kiss.

"I've wanted to do that for a long time", she said with a smirk.

She noticed how out if shake I was and saud, "Are you really out of breath. That kiss wasn't even that long "

"I've only kissed one other girl besides you Star, and it only happened today. Forgive me if I'm not a not a fucking professional.", I said sarcastically.

Star's eyes went wide and she said, "You had your first kiss today? And it wasn't with me."

One of these days, and I don't know when, I'm gonna learn to shut my fucking mouth.

"Who'd you kiss before me?", she asked raising an eyebrow. I looked at Jackie which caused everyone else to do the same. Jackie's face became even redder and she looked away from everyone. Soon everyone understood and Star squealed. "Are you two dating now?", Star asked excitedly.

"Not yet", Jackie said, "We still have to think about a few things."

"Like what? You thinking about if Marco's di-", Hope thankfully covered Janna's mouth before she could say anything disgusting. And for the record, it's big.

"We need to get back to school before we get in trouble for walking out of school.", I said grabbing Star by the hand. She blushed again as we all started to walk back to school. As we were walking to school, Jackie looked back and blew me a kiss making me blush darkly.

* * *

William's POV

It's been days and no one has seen any sign of Star Butterfly, and let's just say that Tom is not pleased. I was in the bedroom of the Queen and King once again and they were talking to Tom and his father. It wasn't a pleasent conversation to listen to.

"This is unacceptable!", Tom yelled not trying to hide his anger at all, "I want my princess, and your armies are doing a terrible job at finding her!"

The Queen, also angry, grabbed Tom by the shirt, looked him in the eyes and said, "Don't you yell at me you spoiled brat. We have tried our best to find her."

Her tone could make a dragon pee its self, but Tom, was somehow unfazed. "Oh please, your obviously not trying if you can't find a teenage girl. A dumb teenage girl at that.", he said as he spit in her face.

I was so angry about the fact that Star was once again being insulted, I almost didn't notice that the Queen throw Tom across the room. Almost.

As Tom's head hit the floor next to me, his father gasp and ran over to his son. "You listen to me", The Queen said physical seething, "You might be a demon, but no one spits in my face. Nobody!"

As Tom's father helped him to his feet, he said, "I apologize for my son's behavior", he glared at Tom, "I raised him better than that." Not enough to teach him that he shouldn't try to get his significant others to drink his own blood though huh? Did you forget to teach him that? I wanted to say that, but I couldn't. The repercussions would be disastrous.

Tom dusted himself off and said, "Yes, I apologize. I don't know what came over me. I guess the stress caused by this whole search has finally caught up to me." I rolled my eyes at his obviously fake excuse. He was full of crap and he knew it.

The King sighed, "It's time we face facts. We've been searching for five days. She hasn't been found on the globe. I think it's time to declare her as dead."

My jaw dropped when he said that. He didn't even sound like he cared. He sounded like he was talking about a goldfish that perished as he was on vacation. How could he speak about his daughter potentially dying in such a monotone way?

The Queen groaned, "I knew that she would end up like this, I just thought it would be on the same day she became queen." Unbelievable. These people really don't care about their own daughter.

"So, who am I going to marry now?", Tom asked. This bastard didn't care about the girl he was going to marry. Un-fucking-believable.

"I don't know and I don't care. Get out of my castle. I have a funeral to plan.", the King said.

Tom and his father nodded and left the room and presumably, the castle. As soon as they were gone, the queen sat on her bed and sighed, "You realize that we're going to have to have another baby right?'"

The King nodded, "Yes, yes I do, but not now. I'm too tired from the search.", he said. The queen nodded in understanding, "Let's hope our new child doesn't end up like the old one."

That was it, I couldn't take it anymore. I started to walk out the room, but the Queen stopped me. "William, where do you think you're going? You haven't been ordered to leave yet.", she asked.

I should've just told them off then and there, but I was too much of a coward to do so. I swallowed my pride and said, "I'm starting to feel sick. May I be excused to use the toilet?"

The King cringed, "Absolutely not. I don't want any peasant puke in my toilet. Go ahead and go home."

"Thank you, your majesty", I said swallowing even more of my pride. I left the room feeling disappointed in myself. I wanted to give my boss the pinkie finger (Mewni version of the middle finger hand gesture), but I was too afraid of what would happen.

I'll be honest, I'm kinda glad that Star isn't here. If this is what she was living with, she deserved a million times better.

* * *

Marco's POV

The school day was now over and Star and I were walking home. Star is going on about how me and Jackie are finally gonna become a couple while I was rubbing my head in pain. I love Star, but listening to the gregarious blonde girl go on and on without stopping can give anyone a mild headache. Even with the mild headache though, I still enjoy listening to Star talk.

Somehow the sleepover, which was only meant to include me, Star, and Jackie, became even bigger when Star invited Janna, Hope, and Leah to the sleepover as well. Well, at least my parents will be happy, I'm actually hanging out with people now.

"I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you and Jackie end up a happy couple by the end of the night", Star said for what felt like the six hundredth time.

I groaned, "Star, I want me and Jackie to become a couple more than anything, but she's scared. Forcing it isn't will probably do more harm than good." There was no use in pretending that I didn't want to be Jackie's boyfriend, I already kissed the girl.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that", Star said smugly, "I saw the way Jackie was looking at you when we were heading home. She's totally crazy for you. Although I don't blame her."

"Why are you always showering me with praise?", I asked, "I'm not that great."

"Are you kidding me?", Star asked bewildered, "You are the best guy I know. When you're not beating up people and being scary. It still surprised me that you're not surrounded by girls twenty-four seven, even after Jackie explained it to me."

The last part about Jackie got my attention, "You asked Jackie why girls don't like me?"

Star nodded, "Yes. She told me that here on earth, good guys like you don't always get the girl. Which is ridiculous."

I shrugged, "Well, that's just how life works here on earth. Earthlings suck. I'm surprised our species hasn't died out yet."

Star giggled, "Oh earthlings aren't that bad. Almost everyone I've met so far is really nice and smart. Well, except Jeremy and that fake magician."

I decided to ignore the "fake magician" part because it would just confuse me. "So, I've never been at a sleepover before? What do you do?", I asked.

"It's just a casual hang out with friends accept with sleeping", Star explained with a smile.

"I guess I can handle that. As long as I don't have to talk too much.", I said, "Although considering my luck I'll probably be forced to."

As we approached my house, I took a deep breath as I saw that both of my parents' cars were in the driveway. It's not that I don't want to see my parents, but I'm not sure that they are gonna allow me to have a sleepover. Star came up with the whole sleepover idea without even considering what my parents would think.

I opened the front door for Star and let her inside. When I entered the house the first thing I noticed was my mother cleaning the couch. She turned around and saw me and Star and gave us a smile, "Hello kids. How was school?"

Before I could answer, Star did it for me, "It was awesome! Marco fixed a relationship, defended my honor in a fight, and Marco had his first kiss!" Honestly, if this girl wasn't so awesome, I would be really pissed off right now.

My mother's jaw dropped, clearly shocked at everything Star just said, especially the last part. "You fixed a relationship?", my mother asked.

I nodded.

"You defended Star's honor in a fight?", she asked.

I nodded once again.

"And, you finally kissed a girl?", she asked. "Well he actually kissed two. He kissed Jackie and then he kissed me.", Star said correcting herself. God dammit Star.

"Is all of this true Marco?" I nodded confirming everything she had heard.

Without even realizing that my mother had even moved, I was suddenly unable to breath and I felt like my spine was being crushed. It turned out that my mother wasn't trying to suffocate me, but she was actually hugging me.

"Oh my god! I never thought I would see the day!", she said applying more pressure in the hug. Just when I was starting to lose conciseness, my mother finally let go of me and let me catch my breath.

"Oops, sorry sweetie.", my mom said sheepishly. I gave her a thumbs up signaling that it was fine and I started to climb back to my feet.

"What's going on down here? We all turned around to see my father. He was obviously confused as to why I was breathing heavily and barely able to stand. My mother ran up to him and said, "Danillo, Marco got his first kiss today!"

My father's confused face turned into into a face full excitement. "My boy is becoming a man!", he said as if we were about to have a celebration. My dad looked at Star and said, "So, are you the girl who stole my son's heart?"

I blushed and face palmed. "Oh I wish", Star said, "He kissed a girl named Jackie Lynn Thomas. She's super pretty." I'm gonna have to pay Star to be quiet aren't i?

"So Marco, when are you bringing your new girlfriend home?", my mother asked.

"Well, I actually wanted to ask you about that. I was wondering if I could have a sleepover tonight?", I said.

My parents' eyes went wide and they said, "Of course! You finally have friends?"

"Yes. Four to be exact. Five if you count Star.", I said.

"And they're all pretty girls", Star said. I mean, she's not wrong.

My mother squealed like a little girl, "I'm so happy! I can't wait to meet them!"

"I wish I could meet them, but I have to go to work. I'll try to come home early so I can meet them tomorrow.", my father said. "That's alright dad", I said. I didn't really needed him _and_ mom freaking out my first friends.

"Oh I'll make some snacks.", my mother said going into the kitchen. "Are we really your first friends?", Star asked me.

"Yep, turns out being an anti-social asshole doesn't really make you an approachable person.", I said.

"Watch your language young man!", my mother called from the kitchen.

Star grabbed my arm and said,"C'mom Marco let's get ready for the sleepover." I didn't have a chance to respond as Star rushed me upstairs and into my room. She started going through my closet.

"What are you doing Star?", I asked.

"I'm finding something for you to wear so I can make sure you look your best for when Jackie gets here.", Star responded still going through my closet. Once again, Star's logic left me speechless. It was a sleepover, I didn't need to, quote, "Look my best." I don't even have a best.

"Ha! Here we are", Star said. She turned around and showed me an extremely ugly shirt that had the words, "Grandma's favorite Grandson" on it and a star in the middle.

"Fuck. No.", I said immediatly dismissing her proposal, "I'm just fine in my red hoodie."

"Aw come on, Marco. I bet you'll look super adorable in it", Star said trying to persuade me.

"I bet you think I look super adorable in this to", I said motioning to my red hoodie. "And your point is?", Star asked.

I rolled my eyes, "My point is that I'm not wearing that stupid shirt. And there's nothing you can do to get me change my mind."

(1 hour later)

"I hate my life. I really do.", I said staring at myself in the mirror. I was wearing the t-shirt that my Grandmother got me and I was wearing pink pajama shorts that my mother let me borrow. "Well, it was fun having friends while it lasted", I said.

I'll admit, I kinda enjoy having friends. All of my friends are amazing people. Jackie is obviously a no brainier, Janna is cocky and confident, Leah is care free and smart, she marches to the beat of her own drum, Hope was as sweet and delicate as a flower. And of course, there's Star. What can I say about a princess from another dimension? That statement alone makes the girl sound like the coolest thing in the world.

It's too bad that they'll never want to see me again after they see me in this retarded excuse for nighttime clothing.

"Marco! The girls are here!", Star called from down stairs, "Hurry up and get down here!"

I sighed and started to walk down the stairs. I heard the girls talking amongst themselves and what concerned me was that one of the voices was my mom. "Oh god", I mumbled under my breath.

I entered the living room and saw all of the girls sitting on the couch with my mother who was showing them...my...baby...pictures. Life, why do you hate me so?

"And this is Marco when he was five months old. You see that Teddy bear there? He used to carry that around all the time.", my mother said pointing at a picture.

The girls giggled, "Wow, who knew that Marco used to be so happy?", Janna said smirking.

"Oh he used to be happy all the time", my mother said, "He also used to sing in the boys choir at our church. I think I have a picture of that somewhere."

I couldn't take anymore of this. I stepped in front of my mother and said, "Mom could you please leave?"

My mom smiled and said, "Okay honey I'll stop annoying you. Have fun tonight. Your snacks are in the kitchen." My mom kissed me on the cheek and headed upstairs leaving me alone with the girls.

"Marco, what are you wearing?", Hope asked pointing at my shirt. All the girls giggled at my attire, including Star who has seem it already.

"Please don't ask", I groaned.

"So, what should we do first?", Leah asked.

The rest of the night is a blur for me, mostly because I spent it trying to stay awake. I was normally bored out of my mind at any kind of social event, and even though this was a social event taking place at my own house, I was still bored, but I pretended to be entertained for the girls' sake.

The activities were pretty standard. We watched a movie, we ate snacks, we ordered pizza, Hope dyed her hair black (with encouragement from Leah of course), and Star made us some of her "famous" brownies (which were pretty bad). Then Star suggested that we play a game called "Splitter Snatch", which I can only assume from the rules, is a Mewni version of spin the bottle. I had to end that game before it even started because my mother would kill me if we played spin the bottle in her house.

Throughout the night, Star was constantly whispering in my ear, "Kiss Jackie, this is your chance." I don't think she was aware that every time she said it, she wasn't exactly whispering, she was speaking very loudly. I don't think Star really gets the concept of whispering. Jackie wasn't bothered by it though, she actually smiled and blushed every time Star did it.

All in all, this night has been pretty good. Not exactly fun, but then again, I haven't had fun in a long time. Hopefully, nothing bad will happen to ruin all the..."fun."

Why do I feel like I just jinxed myself?

"Hey Marco!", Star called from the kitchen, "Can you come in hear please? I need you to state my new brownie recipe."

I cringed as the realization that I was going to have to taste Star's awful brownies again manifested in my brain. "Better you than me", Jana said smirking. I groaned and walked into the kitchen where Star was sprinkling something on her brownies.

She looked at me and smiled, "I really think you're gonna like this recipe, I used real angel wing gloup." I have no idea what "Angel Wing Goup" is, but I'm already 80% sure it's not edible. I wanted to run out of the kitchen and out of the house, but I didn't want to hurt Star's feelings.

I sucked up my pride and picked up a brownie. You could barely see any of the chocolate (or at least, I hoped she used chocolate) on it, it was covered in what I hoped was purple icing. "Star, if I die, tell my mother I love her.", I said. I was completely serious, I really thought I was gonna die. Not that I would've mind it.

"Why would you die?", Star asked.

I ignored her question and bit into the brownie. Well, I didn't die immediately at least. It tasted absolutely terrible, but I was somehow able to keep it down. I gave Star a thumbs up signaling that I liked her brownies. Her adorable smile was the last thing I saw before everything went black.

* * *

Star's POV

Huh? That's odd. I was planning on using the sleeping powder I stole from my mother years ago, but I guess my brownies were so good that they knocked him out.

"Hey girls! I need your help!", I said calling for my friends.

The girls stepped into the kitchen one by one and they all had different reactions for some reason. Leah was silent, but her freaked out face told the entire story. Hope's face turned red and she shielded her eyes. Janna was chuckling, and Jackie was drooling. To understand what they were looking at, I stood next them and looked in the the direction they were looking.

Oh my.

Marco's butt was showing. I'll admit it, I found it hard to look away from it. It was smooth as a baby's bottom. To respect Marco's privacy, I pulled up his pants for him.

"Can you guys hep me carry him to the couch?", I asked. The girls nodded and each grabbed a part of Marco's body. It surprisingly hard to do, but we eventually got him to the couch. "How can a guy that never eat be so heavy?", Janna asked.

"So guys, you wanna know why Marco is the way he is?", I asked.

That quesion immediately perked Janna and Jackie's interest. "I, do wonder why he's such a recluse.", Jackie said. "I don't have anything better to do", Janna said with a mouth full of gummy worms.

"I would love to, but me and Hope were thinking of having some alone time", Leah said.

"We were?", Hope asked looking a little confused.

"Yes. We were", Leah said. And the Leah put her arm and around Hope and we all got the picture.

"Ooooh.", the three of us said. "Well you guys can stay down here and make a baby while Jackie, Janna and I go upstairs.", I said. Hope opened her mouth to say something, but kept it in at the last moment.

I shrugged and started to head upstairs while Jackie and Janna followed at my heels. When we made it to Marco's parents room I signaled for them to be quiet and knocked on the door, " Misses Diaz, are you awake?", I asked.

After a couple seconds of silence, the door opened and revealed Marco's mom in a pretty blue night gown. "What can I do for you girls?", she asked with a smile.

"Remember when you said that you would answer any questions I had about Marco?", I asked. She nodded.

"Well, we have a lot of questions", I said.

She nooded and opened the door to let us in, "Grab a spot on the bed."

The three of us emerged the room and sat o the extremely comfy bed that felt like it was made out of marshmallows. It wasn't as comfy as snuggling with Marco, but it was still comfy nonetheless.

"So, was Marco conceived on this bed?", Janna asked.

Marco's mother gasp at what she said."Jesus Christ, Janna! Do you have no manners?", Jackie asked absolutely disgusted.

"Humans are conceived in beds? Wow, you guys are really weird.", I said.

"Well, some humans are conceived in-", Jackie covered Janna's mouth before she cold say anything else, "Can we just get on with the questions please?"

Marco's mom sat on the edge of the bed, "So, what do you want to you want to know about my son?"

Janna asked her question first, "How is Marco so strong? He's beat up a guy tech his size two times already. Has he been lifting weights since the age of two?"

 **To be continued... because I love cliff hangers.**


	15. Sleepover Part 2

**Author's Note: Mentions of rape, self harm, suicide, and sex are in this chapter.**

Star's POV

"Oh yes", Marco's mom said, "My son is quite the power house isn't he?"

"Are you kidding me!? The guy is stronger than guys twice his size! Has he been taking steroids? And if he has, can I have some?", Janna asked.

At the mention of "steroids", Marco's mother's eyes went wide and Jackie elbowed Janna in the stomach. "What are steroids?", I asked.

"Steroids are something weak people use to feel tough", Marco's mother said, "Luckily, Marco has never used steroids, but it does seem like he uses them considering the fact that he has never even lifted a weight before."

"So, it's just natural born strength?", Jackie asked.

"In a way, yes", Marco's mother said, "He must get his odd strength from his father, but his fighting skills must come from his karate training."

"Marco knows karate?", Jackie asked.

"Yes, he took karate classes for a eight years, but he had to quit following an _unfortunate_ event that happened at the school", Misses Diaz said. At the mention of the "unfortunate event", she seemed to be a bit uncomfortable.

"What exactly was the 'unfortunate event' ma'am?", I asked.

Marco's mother cringed at the question. Whatever this unfortunate event was, it must've been really bad. I actually feel bad about asking that question. "Marco was very good at karate",Mrs. Diaz said, "He was the best fighter in the whole class and he could beat anyone you put in front of him."

So karate is a form of fighting in this world? This place continues to get weirder by the day. "Marco was so good that his sensei recommended him for a tournament that would decide the best fighter in the state.", Mrs. Diaz continued, "He agreed to join and he made it all the way to the finals."

"Damn", Janna said completely fascinated by what she was hearing, "Did he win?"

"Technically, yes.", Mrs. Diaz said, "but not in the way he wanted. You see, Marco was too good at fighting. He could guess his opponents move before they even did it, and even if he was wrong he could counter every move. That combined with his fierce kicks and punches that could cause anyone to be knocked unconscious made it nearly impossible for him to be beaten."

She paused as if she was debating whether or not to continue with her story and then continued, "During the final fight, he was fighting a boy who wouldn't quit. Marco was kicking the poor boy's butt, but he was so determined to win. Let me give you some advice, when someone with a lot of anger like Marco is beating down on you, give up because you won't win. Marco is fueled by anger and if his opponent continues to get up, he will beat him into submission."

"Jesus Christ", I heard Jackie mumbled.

"So, when the boy got up one to many times, Marco snapped and beat the boy into a coma.", Mrs. Diaz said. She said the last part very fast as if she was ripping off a bleedo (Mewni version of a band aid). Jackie and Janna's jaws dropped at the mention of the 'coma', but I wasn't quite sure what that was.

"What's a coma?", I asked.

"A coma is a deep state of unconsciousness for a prolonged or indefinite period of time.", Jackie explained, "A person can be in a coma for days, weeks, months, and even years."

"Holy shit", I said finally understanding the seriousness of that situation.

"The boy was in a coma for about five days", Mrs. Diaz said, "I'm surprised his family didn't sui our asses off."

"Did Marco ever apologize for what he did?", I asked.

"Of course, but an 'I'm sorry' wouldn't be able to wake up that child", Mrs. Diaz said, "As punishment for going overboard, Marco was kicked out of his Karate class and he is now banned from competing in any karate class in the state."

"But it was accident!", I said outraged at Marco's severally harsh punishment, "He just wanted to win! I know he knocked a person unconscious, but he didn't mean it!"

Mrs. Diaz sighed, "Star, Marco is a dangerous person because he doesn't know his own strength. He could've killed that boy if he wanted to. As much as this pains me to say, if Marco can't control himself, then it's probably best if he can't compete in any tournaments."

"But...", I said. I didn't have anything to say because I knew she was right. It was probably the best for Marco and any potential opponent of his that he stopped doing karate.

"How did Marco react when you told him that he couldn't do karate anymore?", Janna asked.

"He was extremely angry. He punched a hole in the wall and locked himself in his room and cried for hours. It always hurts me when I hear him cry.", Mrs. Diaz said. It's extremely bizarre for me to picture Marco, the strongest guy I've ever met, crying in his room.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but who's that girl?", Jackie asked.

Everyone looked at her and she pointed to a picture that was sitting on Mrs. Diaz desk. It was a picture of a young Marco holding hands with a young girl who was wearing a red shirt, a pretty light blue dress and cow boy boots. They were covered in mud for some reason. What surprised me though, was the fact that Marco was smiling. This was the first time I had ever seen him smile, and he looked like he was legitimately happy

Mrs. Diaz smiled as she went over to the picture and picked it up. She looked at it with her smile still on her face then finally turned to Jackie, "This girl is Marco's cousin Jamie."

"Marco looks really happy there", I said smiling, "Were they really close?"

"Like you wouldn't believe", Mrs. Diaz said, "The bond those two had went beyond family. Those two were in love. Legitimately in love."

I'm assuming that being in love with your cousin isn't a normal thing in this universe because Jackie and Janna's jaw dropped once again when Mrs. Diaz said that.

"He...was...in love with his cousin?", Janna asked, "Damn...that must've made Christmas dinner really awkward."

"Good god Janna", Jackie mumbled, her face was still red after learning about Marco's odd love interest.

"Keep in mind that these two were only eight at this point in time. I'm sure that if they still kept in touch, they would've stopped that foolishness.", Mrs. Diaz said still smiling at the memories, "Still, it was still adorable seeing those two engage in their little romance."

"How did you react to the two being in love?", Jackie asked.

"Well, we didn't really think much of it, they were just young kids. We knew that it wasn't actually going to last so we just let them have their fun", Mrs. Diaz, "It was cute. Watching them eat lunch together, play together, and tell each other stories. It's been years since then and I haven't seen Marco smile as much as when he was with Jamie."

I started to become jealous of this "Jamie" girl. How come I can't make Marco smile? What was this girl's secret? What was she doing to make Marco smile?

"So, how did they...break up?", Jackie asked.

The smile on Mrs. Diaz face disappeared, "Well...that's something you're gonna have to ask Marco yourself. I don't wanna relive what happened.", she said. What on earth does she mean by that? What happened between those two? By the looks of Janna and Jackie's faces, I could tell that they were curious as well.

"Has Marco always wanted to be alone?", Janna asked.

"No. He was once a happy go lucky boy who wanted to be friends everyone he met. He was any absolute joy to be around and he could make anyone's day with his peppy aditude.", Mrs. Diaz said.

"So why is he so emo now?", Janna asked.

"Emo?", me and Mrs. Diaz asked.

Janna pondered for a second and thought of a better way to phrase her question and said, "Why is Marco so deflated now? He barely shows any emotion."

Mrs. Diaz nodded understanding what she meant, "Marco's transition into the boy he is today is a long and painful story to tell, but I think I ca-" Marco's mother was cut off by the sound of her bedroom door opening. Marco entered the room looking like he just woke up from his nap.

"Hello sleepyhead", his mother greeted him, "Did you enjoy your little nap?" Me and the girls giggled at his mother's baby talk which made Marco blush from embarrassment.

"You don't need to talk to me like a baby mom...but yes I enjoyed my name", Marco said making us laugh. He looked sharply at us and said, "Mom, what are you telling them?"

Mrs. Diaz patted her son on the shoulder and said, "You worry too much son. I'm not embarrassing you in front of your pretty friends."

Marco's gaze finally left us and he turned his attention to the the picture of him and Jamie. He walked over to the photograph and picked it up. He studied it carefully and squinted at the picture as if he was confused.

"Mom, who is this girl I'm holding hands with?", he asked.

All the girls in the room looked at each other awkwardly. No one knew how to respond to his question. He looked up from the photograph and to his mother, "Mom? Did you hear me?"

His mother focused her attention back on him and hesitantly said, "That's your cousin Jamie, sweetie. Don't you remember her?"

Marco turned his attention back to the framed photograph and stared at it for a few seconds. He turned back to his mother and said, "No. I don't remember her." He put the picture back down on the bed and gave the three of us one last look before kissing his mother on the cheek and leaving the room.

Once he left the room an eerie silence in the room. You could almost feel the awkward.

"There's no way he actually doesn't remember", Mrs. Diaz whispered, "He spent three years trying to get over her for Christ sake."

"Three years!", I said in disbelief, "How serious was this relationship exactly?"

"Seriously, did these two think they were destined to be together or something?", Jackie asked.

Mrs. Diaz sighed, "It's a long story girls. If you really wanna hear it, you better get comfortable. And just so you know, what happens in this story had a major impact on why Marco is the way he is today."

That statement immediately grabbed our intrest. We each grabbed one of the comfy pillows she had on her bed and got comfy. This was gonna be good.

* * *

Marco's POV

As soon as I closed the door to my parents bedroom, I sat down on the ground and started to think. I lied to my mother. I recognized that girl. It was the girl from my dream. The crazy girl that said she wanted to "fuck" me. I knew I recognized her from somewhere. She was my cousin. Why the hell am I dreaming about a cousin I don't even remember? God dammit this doesn't make sense! Why does nothing in my life make sense!?

"Marco?"

I turned around and saw Hope and Leah standing on the top of the stairs giving me awkward looks. Hope's hair was in a mess and both were blushing furiously.

"We're sorry about what happened down there", Hope said.

I stared at them silently for a brief moment before I turned to Leah and said, "How good did she taste?"

Hope blushed even harder as Leah smirk and said, "Kinda like cotton candy."

My face wrinkled in disgust, "Jesus Christ. You're a freak."

"Says the guy who doesn't like pizza.", Leah said sitting next to him, "So, what's your problem?"

"I don't have problem", I said knowing that that was a good damn lie.

"Liar", Leah said, "Liar liar pants on fire." I groaned and face palmed. As if Star wasn't annoying enough, now I have to deal with Leah. As Leah continued to poke me on the shoulder and call me a 'liar', the thought of Star appears in my head and I'm reminded of the promise I made Star earlier. I turn to Hope and Leah and ask, "Are you guys up for hamburgers?"

Hope smiled, "Of course." "You can cook?", Leah asked.

"I'm the best cook in my family. I could roast a turkey right now if I wanted to.", I said with full confidence.

"Well what are you waiting for you lazy bastard? Fix us some burgers."

The two girls grabbed me by my arms and rushed me down the stairs and into the kitchen. I nearly fell to the ground when the two of them threw me into the kitchen. "Now while you cook I'm gonna go sit my lazy ass on the couch", Leah said. After I didn't object to her proposal she went to relax on my family's couch.

"I'll help you with anything you need Marco", Hope said smiling like the nice and happy girl she was.

"Well, you can start with getting the pattys and some potatoes so I can make French fries. They're in the fridge.", I instructed. Hope nodded and got the potatoes and burgers while I got the frying pans and the grease.

Hope sat the food on the counter and asked, "So, who do you like better?" I didn't face her and started to spray the pan with cooking oil. "Did you hear me? Who do you like better?"

"What do you mean?", I asked while I started to cook. I knew what she was talking about, but I really didn't want to discuss this right now. "You know what I'm talking about you lady killer", Hope teased, "Who are you gonna date? Jackie or Star?"

I never thought I would hear that question. I never thought I would even have the opportunity to pick between those two goddesses. "I don't know", I said not taking my eyes of the now cooking burgers, "I barely even know how I got into this situation. It's not everyday a two beautiful girls kiss a guy like me."

"Well, you're gonna have to chose sooner or later. Girls don't like waiting for guys to make up their minds", Hope said. Even an idiot like me knows that.

"Alright, tell me Hope, how am I supposed to chose", I asked rhetorically, "There's Jackie, the girl I've had a huge crush on since kindergarten and then there's Star, the person that has been the reason I'm actually excited to wake up in the morning. Seeing as you're a genius at this kinda thing maybe you could provide some insight from your genius mind."

Hope was silent and I could feel her glaring a whole into my back. "There's no need to be a jackass about it.", she said with a little hurt in her voice.

I sighed, "I'm sorry. I'm just stressed out. The past couple of days have been very hectic for me. Between my countless encounters with Jeremy and meeting Star for the first time, this is the most eventful few days ever."

Hope touched me on my shoulder and I continued to speak, "I just...things have changed really quickly for me. I've tried staying out of the spotlight my whole life trying to stay isolated and be unnoticed, but now I'm the love interest of two awesome girls. Normally I would feel awesome, but now I have to deal with the stress of who's fucking heart I'm gonna break."

"Don't think of it like that Marco", Hope said, "Think of it as picking a girl that will be with you and love you for the rest of your life."

I turned to her and she was smiling. Even though I don't believe in that kind of thing, I didn't want to bring it up now.

"I guess you can see it that way.", I said turning back to the food, "But matter what I do, someone is gonna end up getting their heart broken. It sucks when the person you love prefers someone else over you."

"True", Hope said, "I know how that feels. It's truly one of the worst feelings ever. You feel dejected and worthless." I could hear the pain in her voice. She's obviously experienced that feeling before.

"Exactly", I said, "I don't see how I'm gonna be able to give Star or Jackie that feeling." Hope had become silent, but I could sense that she was still in the room. She had nothing else to say because she understood my situation.

"Where are Jackie, Star, and Janna anyway?", Hope asked curiously.

"They're in my parents' room with my mother. I don't know what she's talking to them about, but I guarantee you that it's embarrassing as hell."

* * *

Star's POV (While Hope and Marco are talking)

I clutched the pillow I was holding to my chest as I waited for Mrs. Diaz to start her story.

"Well, when Marco and Jamie were going through their little romance, her family used to live only a block away from our house, so the two were able to visit each other everyday", Mrs. Diaz began, "One night, Marco snuck out the house and went over to meet her and take her out for a date."

"In the middle of the night?", Jackie asked.

"Yes, and that's where this story gets bad. Marco wanted to take Jamie to the park for a romantic picnic under the stars, and obviously, Jamie agreed to go." I could sense by the tone in Mrs. Diaz voice that something REALLY bad was going to happen in this story, as if I didn't know already. "As they were walking to the park, they ran into two grown men."

Me, Janna, and Jackie gasped at that statement. I might not be from earth, but back on Mewni, two small children running into a couple of grown folk in the middle of the night isn't a good thing.

"The two men asked what the two were doing outside so late at night. Jamie explained what they were doing and the two men offered to give them a ride to the park.", Mrs. Diaz said, "These two kids were so young, so innocent, and so naive, that they didn't suspect anything from these men, but thankfully, they still declined the offer because they wanted to walk together."

"So did these two guys fuck off?", Janna asked.

"No. They let the two continue to walk together, but they followed them to the park and kidnapped the two. They threw them in a van, and, took them to an abandoned apartment. Jamie was...", Mrs. Diaz trailed off. She didn't wanna say what happened next. It must've been really awful.

"W-What h-happenned ma'am?", Jackie worked up the courage to ask.

Mrs. Diaz looked at Jackie and sighed, "Jamie was raped by the two men, and Marco was forced to watch." She said it quickly, like she was tearing off a boock (Mewni version of a band aid).

Jackie and Janna remained silent as terrified looks covered their faces. "What's rape?", I asked scared of what the answer was gonna be.

"Rape is... when someone forces you to make love to them.", Janna explained. "So...it's the earth version of creeply?", I asked.

"Yeah, let's put it that way.", Janna said obviously uncomfortable due to the rude subject matter,

"Oh my god that's terrible!", I said now understanding. I was completely horrified at what had happened to Jamie. That poor girl must've been scared for life. "Is she still alive?"

Mrs. Diaz nodded, "Yes. She had to go to therapy after all the emotional trauma she suffered from this event."

"What's therapy?", I asked. God damn these humans and their weird words.

"Therapy is a thing people attend when they need emotional help.", Jackie said trying to explain in the best way she could. "On earth, rape is something people usually need counseling for. It's a very traumatic thing to go through and you can be scared for life."

"People are rarely ever the same after they are raped", Janna added, "It's a truly horrible thing to go through."

Jackie turned to Mrs. Diaz who seemed to be tearing up at the memories of this awful event, "Did the cops find them, or did they escape?", she asked.

"A neighbor who was coming home from a late night shift at his job. He heard banging and what sounded like muffled screaming. Marco, even though he was being threatened to be killed, must've been struggling like crazy because he was able to be heard by the man. The man, who was very strong, broke the door down and saw what was going on. The police were immediately notified.", Mrs. Diaz said.

"Jesus Christ", Janna said, "What kinda monster would do that. I wish I could beat the shit out of the freak that did that to that innocent girl." Me and Jackie nodded our heads in agreement. We would gladly detake (Mewni version of castrate) these bastards if we ever saw him.

"So, did these assholes get jail time?", Janna asked.

"Oh absolutely", Mrs. Diaz said with a little smile, "They got twenty years in prison and one of them committed suicide in jail. It's a small form of justice for what they did to our kids, but I would've gave up my entire life savings just for five minutes alone with those fucks."

It was shocking to hear Mrs. Diaz curse, but considering the circumstances, it was absolutely warranted. "So Marco is scared for life from this event? That's why he's such a grump now?", I asked wanting a complete confirmation.

"Yes. He hasn't been the same since that day", Mrs. Diaz said somberly, "And to make it worse, he's riddled with guilt after this. Jamie's parents were furious with Marco because he was the one who convinced her to go outside in the middle of the night. Surprisingly though, Jamie was quick to forgive Marco, but her parents banned her from seeing him."

"That's a lot for a little kid through", I said while squeezing my pillow even closer to my chest, "I can see how this would mess him up."

"This event, and a few other things, are what made Marco the guy he is today.", Mrs. Diaz said.

"A few other things?", Jackie repeated.

Before Mrs. Diaz could respond to Jackie, we heard Marco yell up the stairs, "Hey Star, I fixed you some hamburgers!"

* * *

Marco's POV

"Do you think she heard me?", I asked Hope who was standing next to me. Before she could answer, I heard a door slam open and frantic running down the stairs. Before I knew it I was on the floor with Star pecking my face with kisses.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!", Star said. She grabbed my hand hand and dragged me into the kitchen. As she noticed the plate many hamburgers on the kitchen counter she squealed and grabbed the plate, dropping my head on the cold tile floor in the process.

"Not all of those are for you?", I called after her while still on my back. As I looked up at the ceiling, Jackie's face suddenly comes into view.

"You okay?", she asked. I nodded and got off the ground. My head was still hurting a bit from getting dropped on the floor, but the presence of Jackie Lynn Thomas was enough to distract me from it.

"So, you hungry?", I asked her. She smiled and nodded, "Yeah."

We walked into the dinning room where Star was already eating one of the five hamburgers I cooked for her. "You have two burgers Jackie", I told her.

One by one everyone started to come in and eat their food while I cleaned the kitchen of any mess I made. There was a weird feeling in the room, it's kinda hard to explain. Everything seemed well. Everyone was eating and conversating about girl shit, but something just didn't seem right.

Maybe it was because they all talked about something very personal and private while they were in my mother's room. Or maybe my mom told an embarrassing story about me. Either way, something didn't feel right in this room.

"Hey Marco", Star said knocking me out if my thoughts, "Come sit next to me." I turn off the kitchen sink and head into the dinning room where Star has saved me a seat between her and Jackie. Oh joy. I sat down in the seat and I could immediately feel two pairs of beautiful eyes staring at me.

"Are you sure you don't wanna eat anything honey?", my mother asked, "The burgers you made are really good."

I shook my head, "No, I'm fine." I actually don't mind hamburgers. They don't taste great or anything, but I prefer them over most other foods.

"What else can you cook?", Jackie asked.

"Chicken, turkey, grilled cheese sandwiches, ribs, steak, pork chops, pretty much anything that involves meat", I said.

"Damn dude, if I dated you I could get free food everyday", Leah said making Hope give her a stern look.

"Yeah Marco, you can cook, you can fight, your almost the perfect guy. Now all you need is a good sense of fashion.", Star said. I groaned as the women laughed at my ugly shirt. Sometimes, I really wish I was alone again.

(2 and a half hours later)

"But I don't wanna go to bed", Star complained as I dragged her upstairs to my room.

I sighed, "I know you don't Star, but everyone else is sleeping and it's 1:00 am. You're not supposed to be up this late." I honestly didn't care if Star stayed up late, but there was only so much of the gregarious girl I could take.

"But what's the point of having a sleepover if you just sleep?", Star asked.

"I don't know", I said opening my bedroom door, "This is the first one I've been to, remember?"

"Well then how do you know that I have to go to bed?", Star asked crossing her arms in a stubborn matter.

"Because I'm smarter than you.", I said simply. Star gasped and turned away from me, "Well now I'm definitely not going to bed!"

I groaned and picked Star up bridal style. She blushed darkly and said, "O-Okay fine, I'll go to bed, but only because I'm tired." I roll my eyes and walk into my bedroom with Star in my arms. The laser puppies wee awake and they started to crowd me. It took all the willpower I had to not kick the little bastards in the head.

"Seriously Marco, why do you dislike dogs?", Star asked as I lied her down on the bed, "What did the adorable little things ever do to you?"

I groaned and rubbed my temples, "If I tell you will you go to be bed so my misery will end?"

She nodded excitingly. I sat down on the bed next to her, shooing the dogs away as I did. "The first day my mother let me walk to school on my own, a rabid dog. He bit a hole in the back of my pants and peed on me.", I said.

Star gasped and said, "Oh...that sucks. At least no one saw."

I kept my deadpanned expression, "It happened in front of the school. A bunch of kids saw it and laughed at me. Some even taped it."

"Aw, I'm sorry", Star said rubbing my shoulder, "But you can't let one bad experience with a dog spoil your opinion on them forever. They're cute little things."

I looked down at the little puppies on the floor. I didn't see cuteness, I just saw an annoyance. "Go to sleep Star", I said turning back to her. Star scooped up all the puppies with her arms and got under the bed.

"Goodnight Marco", Star said.

"Goodnight Star", I said turning off the light.

I close my bedroom door and sigh. I'm finally have some time to myself. Everyone in the house was asleep except for me. I walked down the stairs and into the living room and saw Hope and Leah holding each other. Both in peaceful slumber. Janna was sleeping on one of the big chairs we had in the living room. She was mumbling random words in her sleep like "Chicken", Tyler", and "Peanut butter." God knows how those things are related.

Jackie Lynn Thomas was lying on a blanket on the floor. She even looked liked a goddess when she was sleeping. The only light in the room was the light from the television, and it was shining down on Jackie's gorgeous face. I was blushing just from looking at her.

I didn't have any intention on going to sleep because I didn't wanna have another dream, so instead, I lied down next to Jackie and stared at her beautiful face until I went to sleep.

* * *

Star's POV

I stuck my head out the door and made sure that no one was around. I quietly snuck into Mrs. Diaz room, making sure that I didn't make much noise. To my surprise, she was still awake watching a movie on her television.

She turned to me and said, "Hello Star. What can I do for you?"

I began to walk up to her, "I'm sorry to bother you ma'am, but I have one more question about Marco."

"Shoot", Mrs. Diaz said as she muted her television.

"Where did Marco get the scars on his wrist?"

 **Author's Note: Next chapter is gonna have some twisted stuff in it, but I'll be sure to leave a warning at the beginning of the chapter. And sorry about the long wait, school keeps me incredibly busy. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.**


	16. Family Issues Part 1

**Author's Note: This was a tough chapter to write because Jackie's parts in this chapter are based on true events. And it only gets worse in the next chapter.**

Star's POV

"W-What do you mean? Marco doesn't have scars on his wrist", Mrs. Diaz said.

I looked at her confused, "Yes he does. In fact, they're all over his arms. It looks really ugly. He says that he was born with them, but no other human I've seen has them."

For some reason, seemed out of it. It was like she couldn't believe what she he hearing, or she didn't want to believe it. I let her process what I said because I didn't want to annoy her with my endless pestering. After what felt like hours of awkward silence, turned to me and said, "Star, sweetie, do you think we could talk about this in the morning?"

I was surprised by the question, but I nodded and said, "Oh of course ma'am. Good night." I gave her a quick hug and began to walk out the room. Right when one foot was out the door I hear pick up her phone and dial a number.

I closed the door and I was met with a bunch of tired Lazer puppies barely able to stay awake. I giggled and scoped all of them up in my arms, "Come on little puppies", I said, "Let's get some sleep."

Marco's POV

As I was regaining consciousness, I felt something pecking me all over my face. It felt like the softest lips in the world. I recognized them as Jackie's lips. I would recognize those lips anywhere. I got a funny feeling in my stomach, it felt like I had eagles inside of me.

When I finally opened my eyes I saw Jackie Lynn Thomas, fully clothed (unfortunately) lying in front of me with eyes fixed on me. It seemed like she had been staring at me because it took a while for her to realize that I was now awake and looking back at her. When she finally realized it her eyes went wide and she blushed. The sight of Jackie blushing remains as one of the cutest things I've ever.

"Good morning", I greeted her, my voice was sore as I had just woken up.

"Morning", Jackie responded with a sweet smile, "Did you dream about anything?"

"Not really", I said. Thank God.

"You're so boring", Jackie said playfully. "Says the girl that made out with me", I said back.

Jackie giggled, "Fine, how about this. You're so boring, and a good kisser."

"That's better", I said getting up from the floor. Jackie followed suit and we walked into the kitchen where Janna was brushing her teeth using mountain dew and a toothbrush that looked disturbingly similar to mine.

"Please tell me that isn't my fucking toothbrush ", I said pointing at the object in her mouth. She stopped moving and slowly opened her mouth and said, "I was gonna wash it off."

My mouth slowly dropped opened and I almost screamed my ass off, but Jackie put her hand over my mouth. "I don't see what the problem is", Star said entering the kitchen, "I've been using Marco's toothbrush since the first day I came to Earth."

My mind completely broke at that one sentence. I couldn't decide if I wanted to yell at them or puke. When my insides started to get tired of being in my stomach, I knew what was gonna happen. I gently pushed Jackie out of my way and walked toward the trashcan.

"Marco, are y-", Star started to say, but I put my finger up, silencing her and her majestic voice for the time being. It was silent in the room for a few seconds until I finally bent over the trashcan and started to empty out my insides.

"What is Marco doing?", I somehow heard heard Star ask over my violent puking noices.

"Well", Janna started, "On Earth, sometimes our stomachs hate us."

I must've been puking for only a couple of seconds or maybe even a minute, but it felt like I was doing it forever. When I was finally done it felt like all the weight in my body had been sucked out of me. It was only when one of the girls put their hand on my back and starting rubbing me. "You feeling better Marco?", Jackie asked.

Although I wanted to say something corny like "I'm fine now that you're hear", or something on that level, I wasn't feeling up for it. I turned to Star and said, "The first chance I get, I'm going to get you your toothbrush, but for now, you don't use mine, ok?"

Star nodded and asked, "Does your stomach like you now?"

I shook my head, "No, but that's fine because I don't like it either."

Jackie chuckled and helped me off the floor. Once I was back to my feet she hugged me tightly. Surprised at her sudden action, I slowly hugged her back. When she broke the hug (to my displeasure) she said, "I should be getting home now." A concerned look came across my face as I thought about the horrors that awaited her at her "home".

"Yeah, I should be getting home to", Janna said after wiping her mouth, "My mom will kill me if I don't get home early. I swear she's the worst."

Jackie shot Janna an angry look that read, "You don't know how lucky you have it."

Jackie turned to me and said, "I'll see you later Marco." She gave me one more quick hug and made her way out the door. Why didn't I stop her? God I'm an idiot.

"I'll see you two later", Janna said waving goodbye to me and Star and walking out behind Jackie, shutting the door behind her.

"So, it's just us again", Star said looking at me with a smile.

"Yep, it feels like I've just walked into hell", I said ruffling Star's hair. As we were conversing, the sound of my mother making her way down the stairs silenced us both. She turned the corner and entered the kitchen. She looked like she hadn't got any sleep.

"Morning Mrs. Diaz/Mom", me and Star said.

My mother smiled her comforting, motherly smile and said, "Hello kids. Star, could you please give Marco and me some privacy? I need to talk to him about something important."

Star nodded and started to skip upstairs, giving me a little wave as she left. I turned back my mother and her warm smile was gone. She was now giving me a look of dread and worry. "Mom, is something wrong?", I asked her.

She didn't say anything, but with a we quick motion of her arm, she grabbed my wrist with a tight grip. I was caught off guard by her odd behavior, I didn't really know what she was trying to do. It was only when she grabbed my shirt sleeve is when I realized what might be happening. I knew that what I was thinking was random and unlikely, but I wasn't going to take any chances.

I tried to yank my arm away from her, but she tightened her grip on me and said, "Marco, stay still." In the blink of an eye, my mother pulled down my shirt sleeve revealing what seemed to be dozens of self harm scars on my arm.

At that very moment, time stood still. My mother's face showed a look of horror as she examined my arm. I was quiet, of course. I didn't know what to say. My mother had found out about my self harm after all these years. And I have a good guess of how she found out.

"Star told you, didn't she?", I asked already knowing the answer.

My mother didn't answer immediately, but after a couple of seconds she nodded her head "yes." She did this without taking her eyes off my arm. She finally looked at me and with tears in her eyes and quietly said, "How long have you been doing this to yourself?"

"Mom, it's okay, I stopped doing that a long time ago.", I said trying to stop her tears from flowing, "I regret even doing this. I stopped because I was terrified of you seeing my scars and-"

She put a finger to my mouth, silencing me. She looked at me and there were tears going down her face. I could've said something, but there was no use. My mother now knew one of my deepest darkest secrets, and I was probably gonna be in deep shit for this.

"Have I failed as a mother Marco? Am I an idiot for not noticing that this was happening?", my mother asked with a mix sadness and disappointment in her voice.

"Of course not Mom", I said, "You're a great mother. It's not your fault I did this to myself."

"Then why Marco? Why were you doing this to yourself?", she asked. Her voice was already shaky just from the little crying she has done so far. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Should I tell her about what I did? What would she say if she knew?

I probably had my mouth hung open for a couple of seconds as if waiting for the perfect words to come out on their own, but nothing came out. I had no words to excuse the horrible bruises I have put on my body that will last even after I'm long gone and burried. What could I possibly say to justify myself?

The worst thing about this, is that I have made my mother cry. I wanted to shoot myself in the face right then and there for what I have done.

With nothing of any meaning left to say, I resort to, "Mom, I'm sorry, but I swear to you I stopped a long time ago and I wouldn't even think about doing it again."

My mother, with lifeless eyes, looked at me in the eyes and said, "I knew we should have gotten you help a long time ago."

A chill went down my spine when she said that. I would've prayed that she wasn't thinking what I thought she was thinking, but there would be no point in doing that because deep down, I knew my gate was sealed.

"Marco, when Star mentioned that you had scars are your wrist, I knew what that meant. I called your father and me and him had a long conversation about what to do about you.", she paused and looked down at my scars as if she was still taking in the presence of my scars, "We've decided that it was time that you get professional help. So, starting Monday after school, you will start going to daily therapy sessions."

"No", I said, "I'm not doing that Mom. I don't need help. I'm perfectly fine."

"No you're not son. We both know you haven't been 'perfectly fine' since you were a child-"

"That's because I'm not a damn child anymore Mom!", I yelled cutting her off. I've never yelled a my mother before, I've never even interrupted her before, but if there was ever a time to do it, it was now. "Come on Mom, it's been years since I've cut myself and I'm a lot more stable now than I was a long time ago, and even if I was mentally fucked up, talking to some random guy in a suit wouldn't help me."

Although it looked like my mother had already made up her mind it looked like she was taking my words into consideration. Either that or she was deciding whether or not to slap me in the face for yelling at her.

"How about this", she finally said, her voice was stern and serious, "You go to therapy for a weak, and if me and your father see even the slightest sign of something being wrong with you, you'll continue to attend these sessions until further notice."

"Fine.", I said.

She finally let go of my arm and hugged me. I hugged her back while saying 'I promise I'm okay" over and over again. When we broke the hug my mother said, "We are still going to have a talk with your father about this okay?'

I nodded. She kissed me on the forehead and said, "Now, go upstairs with Star, I need to get some work done in the kitchen."

I nodded again and began to make my way upstairs. I knew that the so called "work" that needed to be done in the kitchen was my mother throwing away all of the sharp objects we have in the kitchen. They've already taken anything I could kill myself with, so now I'm pretty sure everything in my house will be covered in bubble wrap by the end of the day.

I went into my bedroom and saw Star lying on my bed while playing with those fucking puppies. She noticed me and greeted me with a smile, "You wanna play with me and the puppies?"

I shook my head "No" and sat down on the edge of the bed, "What did you tell my mother last night?"

"Nothing", Star said barely paying attention to me. She was too busy tickling two of the puppies on their stomachs.

"Did you mention the cuts on my wrist?", I asked. This got Star's attention, "Oh yeah! I ask her about where you fought in war. She got all weird and spaced out for a moment. It seemed like the cuts were a sensitive topic for her. Do you know why?"

I didn't answer. I stayed at the edge of the bed and rested my face on the palms of my hands. I wasn't angry with Star. I wasn't even annoyed. I was just…lifeless. I now had to deal with a therapist, as if my life wasn't unbearable enough. Star must've felt my distress because I felt the bed move and I suddenly had Star's arm around me.

"Are you okay Marco?", Star asked, "You can tell me."

I turned to her. I wanted to hit her in the face so badly, but I can't do that. I could never do something like that to Star. No matter how angry I was at her. "I'm fine Star", I said. My voice was more lifeless than usual.

"Are you sure?", Star asked, "You seem kinda out of it?"

"Well", I started deciding to give in, "My mother and making me see I mind doctor." There's no way in hell that she'll understand what a therapist is. "On earth, a mind doctor is called a psychologist."

"Why do you have to see him? Your mind is just fine.", Star said with an adorable smile. It would've warmed my heart if it wasn't for the fact that my heart was already frozen in unmeltable ice.

"Well my mother doesn't think so. She wants to make sure that my mind is in tip top shape and not broken", I explained as simply as I could.

"In Mewni, if your mind is broken they just put you on a catapult and fling you into a volcano. I've lost several uncles that way.", Star said randomly. It didn't surprise me in the slightest that Star came from a family filled of people with "broken minds". She seemed liked she fit right in. Now that I think about it, being flung in a volcano sounded like a pretty easy way to commit suicide. Dammit. I should've came up with that years ago. Silly me.

"Well here on earth, if you have a broken mind, they try to fix it before it's completely fucked and un fixable, but don't worry Star, my mind is fine.", I said, "Now, get those mother fucking things off my bed."

Star rolled her eyes and started to get the puppies off my bed. Whenever the little fucks would look at me I'd turn my head and refuse to face it. Star got my attention when I heard her gasp loudly. I turned to her and I saw standing there with her mouth hanging open staring at the wall behind me.

"Are you okay?", I asked.

She didn't answer me. Her hung opened mouth formed into a happy smile and she whispered a word I made out to be, "William?"

I turned around and saw a man dressed in an odd uniform and holding a pair of siccors covered in what looked liked diamonds and jewels. I immediately became alert and got ready to fight, "Who the fuck are you?"

The guy put his arms up in the air as a form of surrender and backed up into the wall. Before I could do anything or ask him anymore questions, Star grabbed my arm and pulled me back. "Calm down Marco, this is William!" she said as she pointed at the oddly dressed man and jumped up and down excitedly.

"Who exactly is…", I turned back to the oddly dressed man momentarily and then back to Star, "…William?"

"William was my servant back in Mewni! He was also my first friend!", Star said excitedly. She ran up to William and gave him a huge hug. He hugged back and said, "I'm so glad you're okay Star! I was so worried about you." He turned to me and let go of Star.

He walked over to me and asked, "And who might you be good sir?"

I was pretty weirded out by this guy seeing as this guy was from the same place Star grew up in (a place I would not like to visit), but in order to make Star happy, I held my hand out and said, "I'm Marco Diaz. Nice to meet you."

The man shook my hand (I'm surprised he knows what that means) and says, "How exactly do you know Star?"

Before I could answer him, Star answered for me, "He was the first person I met when I came to earth. He found me on the streets after I got injured and took care of me. He also gave me my first kiss!"

William looked confused, "I thought your first kiss was with Tom?"

Star's mood remaind the same, "Let me correct myself, he gave me my first kiss that wasn't with a psychotic asshole!"

William turned back to me and inspected me a bit. I'm not sure exactly what he was looking at me like that for. Maybe he was looking for muscle mass or something. He finally smiled and said, "I thank you for taking good care of my little friend. I'd be crushed if anything would've happened to her. Everyone in Mewni has been worried sick about her."

At the mention of her home, Star became pissed off and stomped her foot on the ground. "I don't wanna hear about home", she warned.

William, obviously scared (and I personally don't blame him), decided to not mention Mewni anymore.

"Why are you even hear?", I asked William.

William sighed, "I've been sent here to take Star Butterfly home."

* * *

Jackie's POV

The worst part of my life is whenever I approach my front door and I hesitate to enter because I realize what awaits me. Why didn't I just stay at Marco's house? What the fuck was I thinking? I stood at the front door trying to work up the courage to enter and face my fears, but it just wasn't happening. I decided to cut my losses and head back to Marco's house, but the door suddenly opened.

I cursed under my breath and turned around to see my mother in the doorway. She was smoking a cigarette. It seemed like she was always smoking one of those damn things.

"Get in this damn house", she said before walking away. I sighed and slowly walked into the house. I was too scared to try and run away. God I'm such a coward

I entered the house and my mother immediately screamed at me, "Close that fucking door!"

I quickly close the front door and began to make my way to my room. I kept my head down and prayed that my father wouldn't notice me. I was already missing Marco's house. I felt safer sleeping on his living room floor than I did walking in the upstairs hallway of my own house.

I finally made it to my room and closed the door behind me, making sure I didn't slam it. I've become a pro at making absolutely no noise when I want to. When my door was finally closed I sat down on the filthy mess that was my bed. I was already missing Marco's bed, hell, I'll settle for the fucking floor.

My bed had to be the most uncomfortable piece of furniture in history. It was never washed because my parents couldn't be bothered to care and I was never taught how to use a washing machine. My sheets were covered in blood from my wrist, pee, resulting from me too scared to get up at night, and many other fluids.

Regardless of the awful state of my bed, I tried to fall asleep. I've learned that if I pretend to be asleep, or fall asleep for real, sometimes my parents won't bother waking me up to abuse me. Unless my drunken shit of a father decides to get his panties in a bunch.

As I try, and fail, to fall asleep, I look across the room to the shattered remains mirror that had been broken in one of the brutal encounters with my father. Normally I would get chills from looking at that mess, but for some reason, I didn't this time. For some reason I felt a need to go over there.

Slowly as a snail on a leaf and barely even breathing, I walked over the shattered mess. I picked up one of the bigger pieces and looked at my reflection. I didn't see that beautiful girl Marco was talking about. I swear that boy is insane. At least he cares about me though. That's more than what I get from most people.

Another chill went down my spine as I heard my bedroom door slam open. I didn't even have time to turn around as I felt a stiff punch in my back, causing me to fall toward the mirror remains. I managed to avoid the glass, but I wasn't able to avoid the punches my mother was throwing at me.

I could almost feel my teeth coming loose. I foolishly tried to get up and run, but I was met with a punch to the stomach. I kneeled over in pain and my mother kicked me in the stomach. I can get used to the name calling, but I will never get used to the pain my parents inflict on me. I layed on the ground and pretended to be unconscious, but that elementary school level trick didn't work on my mother, who was actually way smarter than she looked.

"I know you're not knocked out you idiot", she said with a snarl, "Stand. Up."

I get on two legs again and face my mother. I've learned that if I don't look either of them in the eye when they are talking, I will be met with harsh consequences.

"Have you been using my makeup?", my mother asked clearly angry with me.

If I tell the truth, I get beat. If I lie, I get beat. This is just a tough choice to make isn't it?

"…Y-Yes, I have." After I said this, I was immediately slapped in the face and pushed to the ground. I looked up and saw my mother as angry as she's ever been. The beatings I have never gotten used to, but the disgusted looks on my parents' face whenever they even do so little as glance at me, I will always be use to that.

"You stupid bitch!", my mother said as she slapped me in the face again. The side of my head collided with the floor and I grunted in pain. I closed my eyes at the point of impact and when I opened them, I'm looking at the pieces of the shattered mirror. My mother follows my eyes and within seconds, she has found a new method of torture.

She walks over and picks up the biggest piece of glass, the one I was looking in earlier. She walks over to me and says, "I'm gonna show you what happens when you take things that don't belong to you."

As she gets down on one knee and prepares to penetrate my face with the glass, I closed my eyes and prayed for it all to stop.

I had stopped believing in God a long time ago, but if a guy like Marco can notice me, then I guess miracles do exist.

* * *

Marco's POV

As soon as the words 'home' left William's mouth, I got in front of Star just in case he tried to do anything rash. He must've understood my gesture because he backed away with his arms in the air.

"You misunderstand me sir, I am not going to use force to take Star back.", he said backing himself into the corner.

"Well then how are you going to take her back?", I asked, "Because I'm damn sure she's not gonna go with you willingly. Especially after what her parents did to her."

He put his hands down and sighed, "Let me explain, I despise what Star's parents did to Star. I don't agree with arranged marriage and I don't approve of Tom at all. I would never make my children mary such a brute. I've been sent here to take her home, but I would prefer if she stayed with you here on earth."

"Really?", Star asked coming from behind me, "You'd actually prefer it if I stayed here?"

"Well", William started, "Are you being taken care of here? Are you being protected? Is this boy treating you with the upmost respect?"

"Yes to all of those questions", Star said giving me a soft hug, "Marco is my protector here on Earth. If I get assaulted, Marco will avenge me. If someone disrespects me, Marco will see to it that they learn some respect." Star smiled a bit and said, "I'm his Star."

William nodded and looked at me, "Well Marco, it seems like my little friend is in good hands, but I will continue to show up in this universe to check on her."

I put my hand up to stop him from talking, "I'm sorry, but how the fuck did you even get in my room?"

Willam pulled out the siccors he was holding, "Why, with these of course, these are interdimensional siccors."

"Those are how I came to earth!", Star said pointing at them.

I was silent for a moment. I stared at the siccors like they had just grown legs and walked off. Do they seriously expect me to believe that they used siccors to get to this dimension? I would've called them out on their bullshit if it wasn't for the fact that I heard my mother call for me from downstairs.

"Marco! Your fathers home! Come down here, we need to talk!", I heard my mother say.

"God dammit", I mumbled under my breath as I leaned on my bedroom wall, "The one time my father gets home early is the day I get busted for self harm."

I turned back around and saw William and Star playing with their so called 'Interdimensional Siccors' and said, "You guys don't leave this room, okay? I'm going to talk to my parents. You. Don't. Leave. This. Room. Understand?" My request fell on deaf ears. They didn't even notice that I was talking to them.

"For fuck sake", I mumbled under my breath. I walked out of my room and started to make my way downstairs. It goes without saying that I wasn't looking forward to this little family talk. I didn't know what would happen, all I know is that by the end of the day, I'm gonna wish I were dead.

 **Author's Note: There's a reason this is part 1. Part 2 will have a bunch of stuff in it that will progress the story.**


	17. Family Issues Part 2

Marco's POV

It's been awhile since I've been scared. Whenever I am met with a tough situation that would scare a normal person, I treat it with the same monotone aditude I treat everything else, but today I have no shame in saying that I am terrified about how this family meeting is going to end. It's been years since my parents and I have had a little heart to heart talk. I try to avoid those, but it looks like it's time to face the music. Add that to the fact that Star and her friend from Mewni were in my room doing God knows what and I feel like I'm completely fucked.

When I made it down the stairs, I saw my father sitting on the couch. He already had his jacket off and he was sitting on the couch sipping coffee from a mug I got him when I was five. He spent no money on that mug, that's probably why he still has it. He noticed me out of the corner of his eye and gave me a smile. He motioned for me to sit down next to him and I did. I avoided eye contact with him.

He gently grabbed my arm and pulled my sleeve down. He closely inspected my scars and sighed, "You had Diaz skin."

I looked at him confused for a second, "Diaz skin?"

My father chuckled, "I never told you about that did I? Back in Mexico all the men in our family are known for having the toughest skin in the country."

"That's ridiculous", I said.

"I know. Maybe one of these days I'll tell you what that actually means", my father said as he chuckled again. He rubbed my scars and said, "Just so you know, I believe you when you say that you haven't cut yourself in years. You're a good boy, I know you wouldn't lie to your mother."

I nodded and he continued, "But with that being said, you realize how serious this is right?"

I nodded again. My mother then entered the room with a plate full of cookies and set it in front of me. My stomach turned as I looked at the damn things. My mother makes her cookies with chocolate and marshmallows, and mixing those two terrible things together makes a hellacious combination. Good lord, what is with people and mixing up these terrible foods only to make something even more retched?

My mother positioned a chair across from me and my father and sat down. We were all quiet and it immediately became tense and awkward, especially with mom giving me the most concerned glare I've ever seen on a women. My father wasn't helping matters much as he just kept avoiding my mother's gaze whenever she would look at him.

Finally, I decided to end all this silliness and said, "I'm not crazy. I'm not self harming anymore. I'm not suicidal, and I'm becoming more social. You don't need to worry about me. I swear if I ever have any problems I will come to you."

My mother gave me a stern look, "I know you're getting better honey, but the fact that you would even think of cutting yourself makes us think that we've failed as pare-"

"No", I interrupted her, "You two have not failed as parents. I love you both with all of my heart and your great parents. Everything that's wrong with me is my fault."

"No Marco, it's not your fault", my mother said, "Everything wrong with you is no fault of your own. You are a good boy with a good heart. You've done so many good things lately. You just had a bad childhood and I think that's why you've been in such a bad place for a long time."

I became silent. I knew my childhood was shit and it was why I was so messed up (for the most part).

"Not to mention that I know you still feel guilty about...the incident.", my mother said awkwardly, "But you don't need to feel guilty about it Marco. I don't care what my mother thinks, I love you with all my heart and I wouldn't give you up for anything."

I decided not to meet my mother's eyes. I hated it when she brought up that awful day. That was the day I realized that I was a mistake. Nothing but a hindrance on my parents and everyone I've ever met. Whenever they say that they love me, I know that deep down they know that they'd be better off without me. I hate the fact that I cause them so much pain.

"Don't cry sweetie", my mother said as she approached me and got ready to wipe away any tears though none had occurred, "You don't need to feel guilty. You didn't mean to do what you did."

"J... Just, please stop talking about it.", I said not looking up.

Thankfully, my father finally spoke up, "Your making him uncomfortable, honey."

"We can't just keep pretending that it didn't happen, Danillo", my mother said as her voiced raised a bit, "We haven't talked about it in years and looked what happened!"

My father remained calm and said, "He obviously doesn't like being reminded of it Alba. It was a traumatic experience that caused a lot of damage. Bringing it up just makes him feel guilty again."

"I agree with dad", I said, "I was completely fine until now. I just wanna forget about it for Christ sake."

My mother sighed and said, "Fine, if you wanna forget about it, then we don't have to talk about it, but if the therapist ask you about it, you must talk to him."

"Fine", I said wanting to get this over with.

"Son", my father said, "Can you say that you are truly happy with your life?"

I looked my father in the eyes and said, "Dad, I swear to God I am happier now than I've ever been in my entire life. I actually have friends now, and not only that, but all of them are beautiful and amazing girls. I also...uh...shit." It was at that moment that I realized that my life was boring and there was nothing else in the world that made me happy.

"Your friends? That's it son?", my father asked. I'm fucked.

"Well, you guys make me happy", I said. Well, that's not a lie, I am happy whenever I come home from school and I see that both of my parents are home, but that hasn't happened in a while.

"Those are the only things that make you happy?", my mother asked with desperation in her voice.

"Uh...sleep. That makes me happy.", I said. Well, I'm completely fucked now. I'm probably looking at ten years of therapy.

"We're you depressed before you met your friends?", Mom asked.

"No", I said lying my scrawny ass off, "I told you, I stopped cutting myself a long time ago in fear that you would find out. After that, I wasn't depressed, I was just... deflated."

"Deflated", my mother asked.

"Yeah, deflated", I said, "I became more introverted than I was before and I started to stop caring about other people, besides you guys of course, and I stopped worrying about making friends. I had given up on being completely happy until I met Star. Since I've met her I have started to become happy and now I wake up excited to see her and the rest of my friends everyday."

Once again, that wasn't a complete lie. I was depressed after I stopped cutting myself, but meeting Star has indeed brought more life into me, even though you could barely see it, you could tell that I'm not as a sourpuss as I used to be.

"It's not normal to only have three things in life, Marco", Mom said, "There's something going on in that head of yours if you only find joy in three damn things."

"Do you find joy in more than three things?", I asked my mother.

"Your father, my job, my house, my grandfather, my son, and many many more", my mother said as she counting on her fingers, "That's definitely more than three isn't it?"

I became silent. I had nothing else to say because I knew that I was screwed.

"On Monday you will go to your first therapy session. You will attend them everyday for a week", Mom said, "Like I said earlier, if I see any reason for you to stay, or the therapist even hints that you need more sessions, then you will continue them until further notice."

I looked at my father thinking that he was gonna defend me and stand up to my mother, but the stern look he was giving me showed me that he wasn't going to. I guess there's no use arguing against your wife when it comes to the well being of her son.

"Marco", my mother said getting my attention back, "I want you to know that I'm only doing this because I love you and I only want the best for you. You are so important to me and your father, we don't want to lose you."

"Your mother is right son", my father said putting his arm around me, "Your mother and I would die of a broken heart if we were to lose you. You might hate what we're doing, but this is just a little taste of what we would do to make sure you are okay."

They are fools. They are too nice and too loving. They are spending money on something that isn't even worth the effort. I'm a waste of space that doesn't deserve to be around such well meaning and caring people like these.

"Fine", I said ignoring the pain I was feeling in my heart, "Can I go to my room now? I want to get there before Star sets it on fire."

My mother looked at my father as if she was asking for his blessing. When he nodded to her she turned back to me and said, "Of course."

I got up from the couch and made my way to the staircase, but before I started to ascend, I turned back to my father and asked, "What is Diaz skin a good thing again?"

My father chuckled, "I can't tell you that with your mother in the room."

"Excuse me?", my mother asked giving my father a pissed off look. I decided that I didn't wanna see how this was gonna play out and headed to my room. As I approached my room, I started to hear a raucous coming from my room. I groaned and thought, _"Fuck my life, just fuck it."_

I opened the door and saw that Star and William had filled my entire room with puppies that were shooting lasers from their eyes. "What. The. Fuck. Is. Going. On?", I asked as I glared at the puppies. Star gasped slightly and did an odd motion. Suddenly, all the puppies disappeared.

"Aw", William said looking at his hands which once had a puppie in them, "Why'd you do that?"

"Marco hates puppies", Star said sheepishly.

William gave me the cliche look that I keep getting whenever it's revealed I don't like something popular.

"Yes William, I don't like puppies. Get over it.", I said.

"The people here seem odd", William said scratching his head. He has no idea.

"William, how are Star's parents dealing with the disappearance of their daughter?", I asked him.

He seemed a bit uncomfortable due to the sudden question. He avoided eye contact with me for a few seconds before turning back to me and saying, "They are worried sick about their daughter. They really want her to return, but I know Star would be happier here with you. Especially after what I've heard about you today."

I could sense that there was some truth to what he said, but I could tell that there was something he wasn't telling me. So I decided to throw out a guess, "Star's parents don't really miss her do they?"

William didn't answer immediately leading Star to send him an odd look. He simply refused to answer. "William", Star said, "Answer him please."

William sighed and said, "The King and Queen have not spoken kindly of their daughter. They seemed to be more concerned by the chance of having no one to rule the thrown and the chance of having no one to marry Sir Tom than they are about Star."

I watched as Star's face turned into a look of rage. "I knew it. I fucking knew it. They don't care about me. All they care about is their fucking kingdom!" William backed away into a corner as Star started to scream. "I fucking hate them! Why do they fucking hate me!?"

I approached her and grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into a hug. She seemed like she wanted to break away, but she soon relaxed in my arms. "How did you do that Marco?", William asked.

"My mother does this to my father when he comes home from a hard day of work", I explained, "I wasn't sure if it was gonna work for Star, but I figured that I should at least give it a shot."

I felt Star sigh into my chest and say, "I fucking hate my parents."

I gently rubbed her back and asked, "Isn't that 'Sir Tom' guy the same ones your parents tried to force you to marry?" She nodded with her face still in my chest. I turned to William, "If you don't return home with her, is he gonna try and take her back himself?"

William shook his head, "I don't think so. Royals wouldn't dare step foot outside of their own dimensions. It is a servants job to do that. Hence the reason they sent me here instead of one of them coming here themselves."

"How did you even know where I was?", Star asked as she looked at William.

"It took us a while, but we finally figured out that you must've used interdimensional siccors to get here, so I was sent on a mission to come find her. They don't exactly know where she is.", William explained.

"Wait", I said letting go of Star and approaching him a bit, "Are you telling me that you've been dimension hopping with those siccors and you just randomly ended up in my room?"

William nodded, "Yeah. You catch on fast sir."

I decided to not even ask and lie down on the bed, "Makes a lot of fucking sense to me."

William turned to his golden haired friend, "Star, it's time for me to head back. It's almost dinner time back at Mewni and I promised my wife that I'd eat dinner with the family tonight."

"Of course", Star said giving him a smile, "It was so nice seeing you William. Send your family my regards." The two friends hugged and William used the interdimensional siccors to create a portal. He gave me a small nod of respect before stepping into the portal and leaving.

"You can bring the puppies back if you want.", I said, but Star didn't answer. Suddenly I felt Star lie down on top of me. "W-What are you d-doing?", I asked nervously.

"I'm taking a nap on the most comfortable pillow on earth.", Star said sleepily. I was gonna protest, but Star soon fell asleep peacefully while lying on me. I sighed and started to rubbed her back slowly as she slept peacefully. I hope my mom doesn't come in and find us like this.

* * *

Jackie's POV

Weekends, for most kids my age, is a time for having fun and temporarily forgetting about all the stress that comes with school and other things. Not so much for me. While weekends did relieve the stress of school, it was replaced with the stress of dying at the hands of my uncaring parents.

For me, Saturdays and Sundays consisted of me sitting in the corner of my bed that was placed in the corner of my room while covering myself in a blanket that was covered in blood and piss stains. I spent my weekends balled up in a fucking corner. How did I even end up with friends?

Although I spend the majority of my weekends thinking about how I was probably gonna die, I spend a good deal of time thinking about Marco. It was absolutely pathetic. Whenever I would see him simply working on an assignment in class, I would hold on to that memory and think about it all weekend. Creepy right? I fucking hate myself. Ever since I've became friends with him though, I have plenty of scenes of Marco to replay in my head, which is awesome.

I could only think about Marco for so long before the fear of one of my parents barging into my room reared its ugly head again. Every little squeak, every odd noise that, anything that seemed even slightly unusual was enough to put me on high alert, but whenever I realized that nothing was going to occur, I went back to thinking about Marco. Thinking about that wonderful, yet damaged boy is

He was almost exactly like me. On the surface, we both appeared to be normal and mentally stable, but on the inside, we were both in need of help. I need help escaping from my pathetic excuse of a home, and Marco needs help becoming the awesome and confident guy everyone around him knows he can be. I think Marco has better chance at becoming confident then I do at escaping my home.

I am fully aware that I can just call the police, but whenever I get the chance to do that, I freeze up. Fear just succumbs me and I quickly run back to my room before my parents catch me outside my disgusting prison. I just can't help but think that something bad is gonna happen to me if I try to escape or call the police. The first time I tried to escape, I made the dumb mistake of packing my suitcase in the middle of the day, when my mother was wide awake. She saw what I was doing and beat the shit out of me.

I don't want that to happen, so after that day, I just gave up on trying to escape, there's no point in trying. I guess fear is also one of the reasons I haven't even attempted suicide yet. Killing myself has always been an option, but there are several reasons why I haven't done it.

One, the aforementioned fear. Two, I don't want my final resting place to be a messy bed. Third, If I die on my parents property, they will probably do horrible things to my dead body. And finally, if I kill myself, I wouldn't be able to see Marco ever again, and that would be terrible.

As I was thinking about all of this, I heard another noise that put me on high alert. I heard footsteps. My heart skipped a beat and I stopped breathing. I had no idea what time it was, but I was praying that it wasn't pass the time my father got off work. I started praying and begging God to spare me today, but just like every other time, he has ignored me.

In the blink of an eye, my father bursted through my bedroom door, nearly knocking the thing of its hinges. He slammed the door closed behind him, as if he cared if someone heard him, and started approaching my bed. I noticed that (surprise surprise) he had a half empty beer bottle in one hand, and his other hand was balled into a fist.

"You know what happened at work today?", he asked me as if he was actually expecting me to answer, "I got fired."

"…", I opened my mouth to say something, but instead I decided to remain completely silent.

"Well?", my father asked, "Do you want to know why? Fucking say something!"

I remained silent. I'm gonna get beat either way. There's no point. There's no point in anything. My father, not able to handle his anger, aggressively pulled me by my arm and dragged me to the floor. He started to hit me with the bottle as hard as he could. The bottle, which felt like it had been made out of steal or something, hurt like hell. My head, which had only started to recover from pain of the shattered glass, was once again bleeding heavily.

With every single hit, my father kept screaming curse words at me, and he got more aggressive with each hit. I felt more and more blood on my face. Normally I would beg him to stop, but there's no point in doing that. Throughout the entire assalt, the glass bottle didn't even crack, but I knew it was only a matter of time before it did.

Before it could happen though, he threw the bottle to the ground and picked me up by the collar of my shirt and started punching me on my already bruised face. I felt more blood coming out of the cut on my forehead. On the bright side, the assalt didn't last nearly as long the assalt with the damn bottle. Or at least I think it did, I wouldn't know, I passed out half way through.

I woke up a couple of hours later, I think, I don't have a clock or anything like that in my room. Why the fuck would I? When I looked to my left and saw my pants and underwear on the ground, I knew exactly what happened. I could even feel the regular sticky substance in my private parts.

I started to tear up. I will never get over the fact that I lost my virginity to my father. I wanted Marco to be my first time, I even prayed for it to happen, but like I've said before, God doesn't listen to me. Either that or he just flat out forgets that I exist. I don't blame him, there's nothing memorable about me.

I wanted to get up from the dirty floor, but I was weak and out of breath. Whenever I tried to move, I would start feeling intense pain from my vagina and legs that caused me to stop moving. And to think, Marco Diaz actually called me beautiful. I'm not beautiful. I'm not even remotely pleasant to look at. Also, I'm a pathetic woman who let's herself get taken advantage of by her own father without even fighting back. Marco is a crazy fool. An adorable, genuinely nice, crazy fool.

Once I recovered from the pain in my lower body, I was able to grab my clothes and gently and slowly put them on. My heart skipped a beat once I heard the booming voice of my father coming from downstairs. He was yelling at my mother about how dinner wasn't ready yet. They were most likely in the kitchen.

... I need to see Marco again. Even if for a couple of seconds, I need to at least see his face. All I have to do is leave the house, but my parents only let me out the house when it's time for school. They're not gonna let me leave on a weekend, so I made a, in hindsight, rash decision, I quietly and slowly opened my bedroom door and started to slowly walk out.

What I was doing was extremely insane and impractical and it would most likely get me beat up and raped again, but I was being driven by one desire, and that was to see the boy of my dreams.

My ability to move around my house without making a sound is really helpful because my parents didn't even notice me. The fact that they were yelling at each other in the kitchen helped to. I was finally at the bottom of the staircase. The front door was right across from me. All I had to do was make a quick run for it, but to be extra cautious, I continued to walk slowly to the door.

When the sound if my parents arguing stopped I started to panic a bit, but I just kept thinking about Marco and how amazing it would be to see him again. When I made it to the door I quickly opened it up and high tailed out of there. I started to run and I wasn't gonna stop until I got to Marco's house. I don't care about the immense pain I was feeling, I needed to see the boy of my dreams again.

 **Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.**


	18. The Love She Deserves Part 1

**Jackie's POV**

The walk to Marco's house felt longer than it usually did. I was normally able to make it in five minutes, but because of the pain I was feeling in my legs everything I moved them, it was taking me longer than usual. The sun was beginning to set causing a beautiful orange light in the sky. For a long time, that was my favorite thing to look at, though it's still beautiful, something else has took its place.

I ignore the pain in my legs and speed up the pass I see Marco's house in the distance. As I approached it, I saw Marco walking out to the mailbox. He had the some old monotone and emotionless look on his that I had grown to love. I started to sprint to him. My footsteps were loud and they echoed through the otherwise silent street.

Marco had his hand inside the mailbox when he heard the sound of me running. He turned to his left and his arms became wide when he saw me. I finally made it up to him and I hugged him tightly. He was really taken aback by this. It even took him a while to realize what was even going on, but once he did, he hugged me back.

"Hi", he said. He didn't really know what else to say.

"Hi", I responded. My face was buried deep in his chest, so my voice came out very muffled. We stood there for who knows how long. For a very short minute, I was able to forget what just happened to me and I was able to enjoy life.

"Marco? What are you doing h-"

Marco and I quickly broke our hug and turned to face his mother who was now standing in the doorway. "We don't have any mail Mom", Marco sai probably hoping his mother didn't see me, but she did.

"What were you two doing?", his mother asked with a little smile.

We both blushed and Marco said, "Nothing inappropriate. Jackie just came over to visit."

"Y-Yeah, I was just in the neighborhood and I decided that I would come over and say hello to my closest friend ", I said as put my arm around Marco. This only made the both of us blush even harder.

"Sure you were", Mrs. Diaz said with a smirk on her face.

Marco and I were extremely flustered. "Excuse me ma'am", I asked, "May I use your restroom?"

"Of course you can sweetie", Mrs. Diaz said, "Marco, can you show her to the bathroom?"

"Yeah", Marco said as he grabbed my hand, "I'd be happy to show her." I already knew where the bathroom was, but I wasn't gonna pass up the opportunity to hold Marco's hand. We entered the house and I immediately saw that all the furniture in the living room was wrapped in bubble wrap.

"What happened here?", I asked Marco.

"I'll tell you later", Marco said as he softly kicked a bubble wrapped covered chair.

"No kicking the furniture, Marco", Mrs. Diaz said, "When will you start listening to me?"

"I'll listen to you when you stop being paranoid and take the bubble wrap off my bed", Marco retorted. His mother just rolled her eyes and went into the kitchen. As Marco began to lead me upstairs to the bathroom, he started to speak to me, "Did something happen at home?"

I didn't even think about lying to him, "Yeah. He did it to my while I was unconscious."

It took a while for him to fully understand the sentence, but once he did, it pissed him off to no end. He did a good job at keeping calm, but I could tell that he wanted to use my father's face as a punching bag, and I would gladly let him. We made it to the bathroom and Marco opened the door for me. I quickly rushed in and asked, "Do you think your parents will mind if I use this shower?"

"They have their own shower", Marco said, "They won't mind if you use mine."

"Good. Can you please close the door?"

"That depends", Marco said, "Can I take a shower with you?"

I chuckled, "Not today, maybe some other time."

"Promise?"

"I promise. Now can you close the door please?" Marco shut the door and I locked it from the inside. I sat against the door and giggled to myself quietly for a couple of minutes. Marco actually wanted to take a shower with me. He actually wanted to see my naked body, even though he knows it's dirty and used. I think I love him even more now.

Normally, after I get raped, I don't get to wash myself off, so feeling the warm water sprinkling on my body was one of the greatest things I've ever felt. It felt refreshing. It felt soothing. Sure maybe I was overreacting a tad bit simple because it was the same shower that the boy of my dreams used daily, but either way, it felt amazing. As much as I wanted to stay in that magical place, I quickly finished my shower so I could see Marco and Star.

I put on the same clothes and exited the bathroom with my hair still a little wet. I saw that Marco was standing outside his bedroom door. "Were you waiting for me?", I asked.

"Yeah", Marco admitted without shame, "I wanted to be the first thing you see when you got out."

I smiled and grabbed his hand, "That's nice of you. Slightly creepy, but nice."

"Yeah, I thought it was kinda creepy", Marco said as he stared down at our two hands. It was like he couldn't believe we were holding hands, even though we've done it a bunch of times before.

"Is something wrong?", I asked.

Without even looking up, he said, "I don't think I'll ever get used to the electrifying feeling I get whenever I touch you." I was now redder than a fire truck. Did I really make him feel like that?

"Y'know, you make me feel the same way", I said. He finally looked up at me and met my eyes. His brown eyes were enough to make me melt into a puddle on the ground, but I toughed it out and continued, "I've always wanted to hold your hand, so whenever I do get to hold it, I feel like the most beautiful girl in the world."

"You should feel like that all the time", Marco said running his free hand through my hair "You're the most beautiful girl in the world Jackie."

I leaned in and kissed Marco on his soft lips. He started to kiss me back and we were now in a full blown make out session. We did our best to be as quiet as possible, but a few moans were heard. This was my second kiss with Marco, and it might have been better than the first. I wanted to be with Marco. I wanted to him to protect me forever, like I know he would. I didn't want to die anymore, I just wanted to be with Marco. I wanted to be with my friends Star, Hope, Janna, and Leah, and if that meant I had to suffer a little at home, so be it.

"Oh my gosh!"

Marco and I stopped kissing and sighed. We knew who's voice that was. We turned to our right (Marco's left) and saw Star standing their with a big grin on her face.

"You two are the cutest couple ever! I can't wait till you have your baby! She's gonna be the most adorable thing on the planet! And I'm gonna be an aunt!", Star said jumping up and down.

"Alright Star", Marco said as he stopped the girl from jumping in the air, "Jackie and I aren't having a baby anytime soon."

"Well when you do, can I please name it? Pretty please?", Star begged.

Marco decided to entertain the girl's fantasy, "Of course, what do you want to name it."

"Adubeedop!", Star said.

I raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"On Mewni, Adubeedop means 'lucky child'", Star explained.

"Yeah, no. I'm not naming my child that", Marco said bluntly.

"Oh", Star said as she pouted. I walked up next to her and put and arm around her, "Adubeedop can be the babies middle name." Star squealed and hugged me while Marco just rolled his eyes. If there was one girl I wouldn't mind losing Marco to, it would be Star. She's such a nice, pure soul and I know she wouldn't actively try and steal him from me. Besides, even I can see that those two would make a cute couple, but right now, I have Marco all to myself.

"I'm gonna go downstairs and get away from all of this", he started to make his way downstairs before suddenly stopping and looking back at Star, "Are those fucking dogs still in the living room?"

Star let go of me and look at the floor sheepishly, "Only two of them."

Marco groaned, "Fine, but if they touch me, I swear to God I'm kicking it in the face." As soon as he was out of sight I turned to Star and asked, "Why does he hate puppies again?"

She shrugged, "I'll never know, but who cares about that now? I'm watching a movie about an adorable fish that feeds milk to it's baby! Do you wanna watch with me?"

Before I could even answer her, she grabbed my arm and rushed me downstairs to the living room. I almost tripped down the stairs, but I was able to make it with an inch of my life. Star threw me on the couch and sat a bowl of popcorn in my lap. She positioned my head toward the tv and forced me to watch.

"Look Jackie! It's about to give birth to another tiny fish!", Star said with fascination in her voice, "I can't wait to see it. It might be even cuter than its mama." Star became silent and we all watched the movie quietly. I realized that the 'fish' Star was talking about was actually a dolphin.

When the mother dolphin started to give birth, Marco ran over to Star and covered her eyes. "Marco! I wanna see the baby!", Star said as she struggled to get him off her to no avail.

"You can see the baby", Marco said refusing to get off her, "But you can't see how it enters the world."

Eventually the baby dolphin was completely out of the mother and Marco uncovered Star's eyes so she could see it. Star's eyes widened with delight. The baby dolphin started to swim. It began to swim around the little pool and eventually it swan to its mother. Star was fascinated with the beauty of nature.

"This is the most beautiful thing ever", Star said, "Isn't child birth of any kind magical. It signifies the starting of a family. The birth of a child brings two people together, and it makes them even more in love, and most importantly, they promise to love and cherish that child."

If it was anyone else saying these words, I would imagine strangling them, but this was Star. She was from another world. Hell, she was another universe entirely. She didn't how things were here on earth. She didn't know that people can go from loving and caring for their kids, to hating them in the blink of an eye. Sometimes a child will never be loved and they will grow up to be hateful and a monster. Most of the time, people don't give a damn about kids, even their own.

"But unfortunately", Star continued, "That isn't always the case."

I slowly turned to her in confusion. Her voice had lost the excitement it normal had and she sounded deflated. "What wrong Star?", I asked putting a hand on her shoulder.

Star kept her head down and said, "My parents don't love me. They think I'm a dissapointment. I'll never be the perfect princess that they wanted. They want me to be something I'm not, but they can't except the fact that I just wanna be myself."

Marco wasn't fazed by she was saying which made me suspect that Star already told him about this, but seeing as this is the first time I had ever heard this, I was absolutely shocked. Star seemed like such a happy girl all of the time, so hearing this made me so sad.

"Is that why you left your home?", I asked.

Star nodded, "That and the fact that they had an arranged marriage for me. They tried to make my marry my ex-boyfriend Tom, who I hate with all my heart."

"Fucking prick", I heard Marco mumbled. He hadn't even met Tom yet, but he already had harsh feelings toward him.

A smile suddenly appeared on Star's face as she said, "At least you guys don't have to deal with that stuff." She turned to Marco, "Marco, you're parents do everything they can to make sure your head is normal." She turned to me, "I've never met your parents Jackie, but they must be amazing people if they can raise someone to be as great as you."

This poor girl had absolutely no idea how messed things can get. She had crappy parents, no one would deny that, but what Star had to go through is nothing compared to what I've had to live with. It just goes to show that misery knows no bounds.

Star is a damn princess. She shouldn't have any problems. Everything she wants should be delivered to her on a silver platter, but instead, she had to deal with awful parents that were disappointed in the fact that she wasn't the perfect daughter.

"Excuse Jackie"

My attention turned to the kitchen entrance way where Marco's mother was standing. "Would you like to stay for dinner?", she asked, "We're having grilled cheese sandwiches."

I smiled and said, "Of course, as long as you don't mind."

Mrs. Diaz smiled warmly and said, "Oh it's no problem. Anything for my future daughter in law."

I giggled and blushed while Marco gritted his teeth, "Mom, can you stop embarrassing me please?"

Mrs. Diaz rolled her eyes and said, "Star, would you like to help set the table?"

Star jumped off the couch and said, "If course! And while we're gone, Marco and Jackie can have their baby."

"Oh for fuck sake", Marco groaned and faced palmed.

"I'm just gonna pretend I didn't hear that", Mrs. Diaz said as she took Star into the dinning room.

"I hate her", Marco said under his breath.

"That's a lie", I said teasingly as I run my hand through his soft hair, "You love her and you know it."

"True", Marco admitted as he laid back and accepted the feeling of my hand, "She's just a bit much."

"Y'know one of the things I like most about you?", I asked. Marco looked at me confused and asked, "What?"

I lied my head down on his chest and said, "I love the way you take care of Star. It genuinely warms my heart. The girls and I gossip about what a great guy you are and how lucky Star is to be able to spend so much time with you. You look after Star like she was your own child, and I wish my father was more like you."

Marco was silent. He was taking in everything I said. Finally, he said, "You're giving me too much credit. I'm doing what any decent human would do."

"There aren't that many decent people in the world. Let alone people who would do what you did", I said. The look on Marco's face became soft and he said, "Decent people are out there my angel, you just need to look harder."

My face became red and I started to giggle. I was his angel. Star might've been his princess, but I was his angel.

"Alright everyone", Mrs. Diaz called, "The food is ready."

"You go ahead. I have to talk to my father really quick", Marco said. I nodded and headed into the dinning room where Star was already eating one of her grilled cheese sandwiches.

* * *

Marco's POV

I wanted to mind my own business and let the situation handle itself, but I knew if I waited too long, things would get even worse for Jackie, so I decided to take action. I ran upstairs to my parents room and opened the door without knocking. I saw my father leisurely getting out of bed and rubbing his eyes.

"Marco?", my father asked tiredly, "Is everything alright?"

 **Author's Note: I'm sorry to end the chapter there, but my parents are about to shut the internet off for who knows how long, so I decided to update this story really quick. The next chapter will have a bunch of interesting plots I promise and I'll try to update as soon as possible.**


	19. The Love She Deserves Part 2

**Marco's POV**

"Marco?", my father asked tiredly, "Is something wrong?" He was shirtless and was pulling up his pants.

I closed the door and locked it behind me, "Yes, dad, there is something wrong, Ja-"

Before I could continue, there was a knock on the door. "Are you fucking shitting me?", I asked.

"Hey", my father said pointing a finger at me, "Watch that language, boy. Your mother might be on the other side of that door."

I contained my composure and opened the door. Jackie Lynn Thomas, in all her angelic beauty, was standing outside the door with a calm smile. She began to slowly shake her head in the 'no' position. I didn't understand what she was doing until her expression changed into a look of despair and she made a praying position with her hands.

For some reason, she didn't want me to tell my father about her abuse. I didn't know why. My family and I could help her. We could give her a better life and make her happy, but she didn't seem to want that for dome reason.

"Who is it?", my father asked while putting on his shirt.

"I-It's my friend, Jackie", I said.

"Really?", he said, his shirt was fully on now, "I didn't know she was over here."

"That's what I wanted to tell you", I said coming up with a quick lie, "Mom said that she could stay over for dinner."

My father walked over to the door and gave Jackie a smile, "Nice to meet you, Jackie. I've wanted to meet you ever since Marco mentioned his new girlfriend."

Jackie smiled as I blushed furiously and said, "D-Dad, I never said that she was my girlfriend."

"But you want me to be, don't you?", Jackie teased.

"Of course", I said without even thinking about what was coming out of my mouth, "I just don't want my parents to freak out if we officially become a couple." I realized what I said and covered my damn mouth.

My father chuckled and said, "Don't worry son, your mother is gonna be the one freaking out. I'll just be in the corner cheering you on." Well, that kinda makes me feel better, just a little. The three of us walked down to the dinning room, and as we did, Jackie grabbed my hand which made me blush.

Dinner was uneventful as it normally was. Dinner time at my house normally consisted of my parents talking while I ate whatever disgusting shit was on my plate. Today was different though. My parents still forgot that I was in the room, but this time, I had two people to talk to.

Star and Jackie would occasionally talk to each other about girl stuff that I of course had no knowledge of, but eventually they would turn their attention back yo me and asked me what I thought about the topic. Even though my answers were often shitty due to me not knowing anything about what they were talking about, but they did a pretty good job of masking their amusement.

When Star saw that I wasn't eating any of my food, she actually tried to feed me. I wasn't having any of it, but I eventually gave in and let her feed me, that is, until she suggested that I licked the cheese from her fingers. If it was anyone else, I would've spit in their face and walked away without caring about the possible diseases I have passed on to them, but this was Star Butterfly, and I could never do that to her.

As all of this was happening, Jackie Lynn Thomas was looking on with a cute smirk. I wasn't sure what the heck she was thinking about, but it gave me butterflies to see her make that face.

After dinner, my parents went up to their room to discuss some stuff, leaving me alone with Jackie and Star. "Is Jackie staying over again?", Star said getting excited, "That would be awesome!"

Before Jackie could answer, I said, "Yes, she is. How about you go get us some blankets from my bedroom closet."

"Yay!", Star said jumping in the air. She gave Jackie and a quick hug and me a kiss on the cheek as she left the room.

Jackie looked me with an adorable sparkle of joy visible in her beautiful eyes, "You're really letting me sleep over again?"

I nodded, "Yes. You are not going back to that house, I don't care what I have to do. I will hide you under my God damn bed if I have to." Jackie chuckled and blushed. Although I tried not to mimic her actions, seeing her in that adorable state made my stomach tickle with butterflies and my face burn red.

"I want to help you. I don't know why you stopped me from telling my father earlier", I said trying to get hide my blush.

"I don't know why you would tell him", Jackie said. She was now speaking quietly so she wouldn't risk someone hearing. "He doesn't need to know."

"How else are you gonna get help?", I asked.

"You really think telling your parents is gonna help?", Jackie asked rhetorically, "Let me tell you something, nothing you can do can put my parents away. I've tried, and I failed. And you think that you can do something."

"Of course I could do something", I said, "I ca-"

"No you fucking can't", Jackie said interrupting me, "You can't stop evil."

In hindsight, I should've expected this. She desensitized to the abuse. She's gotten use to the thought that there is no hope for her. She's excepted that she couldn't bring a stop to her suffering and she couldn't stop her evil parents, but what she doesn't know, is that with the right people, she could easily escape.

"Jackie, forget about all the times you failed at escaping because I am in your life now, and I'm gonna rest until I make sure your parents pay for what they've done to you", I said with grave seriousness in my voice. I would rather die than let those peices of shit get away with what they've done.

Jackie blushed darkly again, but she didn't say anything. I wasn't sure what that meant. What could her pretty little mind be thinking about?

Star finally came skipping down the stairs with a big green blanket that she struggled to carry. I took the blanket from her threw it on the couch.

"What took you so long, Star?", Jackie asked finally speaking.

"Marco has like, eight-hundred blankets in his closet for some reason, and it took me forever to fine the green one", Star explained.

"First of all", I said re-entering the dining room, "There's only seventeen blankets in there. Second, if you were stuck in a house with no heat during the winter, than you'd want as many blankets you could get your hands on. And thirdly, why did you specifically want the green one?"

"Because it matches my dress. Duh!", Star said as she twirled around in her beautiful green dress.

"Okay", I said as I softly face palmed, "You do look gorgeous, and it does make you look even better, but what you have to understand is, no one else cares."

Star pouted while Jackie laughed. Her laugh was filled with joy and it was refreshing to hear after having such rough conversations with her.

Star suddenly stopped pouting and smiled, "Did you just say I look gorgeous?"

I ignored her and sat down on the couch. Even though I ignored her, she was still smiling like a fool. An adorable little fool.

* * *

 **William's POV**

King and Queen Butterfly were quite annoyed when I returned to Mewni without Star. I told them that I could find no sight of their daughter, and understandably, their stress levels went through the roof. Of course, they were mostly worried about the fact that they had no one to rule the thrown after they died rather than the fact that their daughter was still missing.

I can tell I did the right thing by lying to them, even if it was a moral sin and an illegal crime to lie to royalty. There was no way they could prove that I fibbed, and there was no way in hell I was going to tell them.

When I left the castle that evening, I felt like a huge weight had been placed on my shoulders for some reason. I didn't know the reason for my new found fear, for while I did have something to hide, there's no way anyone could find out, yet for some reason, there was fear in my stomach.

As I reached my house though, the fear was lifted off of me. After a day full of dimension hopping and lies, I'd finally be at home and I could relax. I could see my daughters. I could see my gorgeous wife.

When I entered the house, a pleasant scent that I recognize as boiled Somatic Carableus (Bee Honey) entered my nose. "Abadaga?", I called, "Why are you fixing dinner so early?"

I got no response.

I made my way into the kitchen and saw that it was empty. My wife was no where to be seen. I turned my attention to the stove and saw that there wasn't even anything on it.

 _"What on earth?",_ I thought.

I started to make my way down the hallway while still calling out my wife's name. "Abadaga? Sweetie?", I called. Still no answer. I looked in my daughters' room and saw that not only were they not there, but everything in their room had been destroyed. I was appalled and confused by what I saw.

I know my daughters wouldn't do this to their own room, so I know someone must've done this. My heart rate began to accelerate as I came to the conclusion that my family might've been robbed. I ran into my wife and I's room and saw that it was also destroyed. Everything was destroyed. The prized jewelry I brought my wife, the pictures of us at our wedding, our bed, even our walls, it was all destroyed.

My mind went blank and I became weak in my legs. I got down on my knees and tried to make sense of what was going on. My family was gone, and all our personal belongings were destroyed. My mind immediately went to thinking about who would do something like this to me and my family. I had no enemies, to my knowledge, so no one came to mind.

And then suddenly, the long forgotten smell of the Somatic Carableus returned to my nose and a chill went down my spine. I still had no clue where that smell was coming from, but I didn't care. I stood up and with my hands now in fist, I began to walk to the front door and report what happened here to the Jibbers (police), but when I entered my living room, I was met with a horrible sight.

Tom, the demon king, was standing in the middle of my living room. He was holding a bag that obviously had something in it, for it was moving slightly. His expression seemed to be one of annoyance, as if my appearance had slightly miffed him.

"I didn't expect you to be home so early", he said with a hint of discomfort in his voice. He lazily attempted to hide the bag, even though it was pretty much pointless now.

"What the hell are you doing here?", I asked becoming enraged. I could tell that he could sense the anger in my voice. He started to back up a bit, but I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and forced him to look at me.

"I am a powerful demon", Tom said while trying to hide his fear, "Do you really want to do this?"

"Where the fuck is my family, you awful creature?", I demanded. I never cursed unless I felt it was necessary, and now seemed like a better time than any to splur my rage fueled profanity.

"They are safe. Don't worry", the demon said calmly, "But I can't promise the same for you."

In a quick swift motion, Tom nailed me in the head with the bag and its contents nearly knocked me on conscious. I fell to the ground due to the impact of the bag, and before I could comprehend what even happened, Tom began to wail me with the bag as hard as he could.

I wouldn't stay down though, so Tom threw a ball of fire in my face. I screamed in pain as I suffered through what had to be third degree burns. I couldn't see anything due to being temporarily blinded at the moment, but I could hear Tom menacingly say, "You will not keep me away from Star. You will not!"

Something hit me on the back of the head, and I slowly slipped opinion unconsciousness.

* * *

 **Hope's POV**

"I swear, one of these days I'm gonna go up to that school and give that principal a piece of my mind", my father mumbled as he poked on his chicken.

My mother rolled her eyes and said, "Oh get over it already, Mick."

"I can't", my father said, "You saw the same disturbing sight I did when we dropped Hope off at school! How can you not be annoyed by that?"

"Because I already see it everywhere", my mother said taking a bite of her corn, "I don't like it, but I just don't give a shit anymore."

"Well, I still give a shit", my father said sounding a little offended, "I don't want my daughter to be around that."

"Relax", my mother said as she wiped her mouth, "Hope is never gonna turn out like those abominations."

"I fucking hope not", my father said looking back at his food.

It felt like my heart had shrunk and disappeared. My parents were talking about a gay couple they saw outside of my school. They were both disgusted and appalled by what they saw, and they still couldn't shut up about it. Most of the time, my parents were really relaxed people, but whenever they saw something they didn't like or agree with, they would complain about it at dinner time.

The worse part about it is that they would completely ignore me. They wouldn't even ask my opinion on what petty thing they were talking about. Sometimes they didn't even acknowledge my existence. Mother would just hand me my plate, sometimes without even looking at me.

But atleast with those other times, they weren't talking about a group that I was secretly apart of, but today, they just had to focus on gay people. Why? Just why? I would've excused myself a while ago, but my parents don't let me leave the table until all my food is gone from my plate. Even if I have to pee.

So I was stuck there, forced to listen to their speeches of hatred that seemed like it would never end. I finally finished my food and excuse myself to my room. My parents were too busy talking to each other that they didn't even notice me. I'm not sure what I was expecting. I made my way to my room and once I made it there, I locked the door behind me and breathed a short sigh of relief.

It was only then when I realized that I had been crying. I looked in my mirror and saw that I had dried lines of tears on my face. I was sitting at a table, with my parents, I was crying, and my parents didn't even notice.

For some reason, I wasn't surprised that this had happened.

After I wiped the embarrassing tears off my face, I changed into my pajamas and tried to forget about all the hateful things my parents said. When that didn't work, I turned on the television and relaxed a bit. I just listened while I covered my face with a pillow. And with that, my weekend night routine started.

My weekend nights aren't special. They usually just consist of me sitting in my room watching reruns of old 90's sitcoms, and whenever they went to commercial, I would fantasize about Leah. It wasn't the most eventful night, but it's how I preferred it.

The most eventful I've ever had was the sleepover at Marco's house. Even though the boy himself probably would've preferred it if we weren't there, it was actually kind of a blast. Especially sense it was the first time Leah and I could act like a couple in public. It felt so good to actually do that.

I'm extremely grateful that Marco gave me that odd little pep talk. Without it, I have never had the courage to be openly gay. I still haven't told my parents of course, I'm not ready to confess to them yet, but I am completely comfortable with other people knowing about my lifestyle. Not having to hide myself is great, and I still don't think I've thanked Marco enough.

As the show I was watching came to a commercial, I lied down on my back and began to fantasize about my aforementioned girlfriend. I was staring up at the ceiling, but in my mind, I was looking up at Leah's beautiful smirking face. She winked at me and began to slowly unzip my pants.

I mentally slapped myself in the face when I realized that I was replaying the events of Marco's sleepover. The short half hour when Leah and I were alone and we...attempted something. It was enjoyable, but I'm certain that we didn't do it right. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be screaming in pain that much when you're doing that weird act. I wish we hadn't woke Marco up that way, even though it was fun to joke about behind his back later on.

A weird noise coming from my window snapped me out of my thoughts, and I turned my head to it. I could faintly see a hand knocking against the glass of my window and my heart stopped. I was just about to run out of my room and call for help when I heard a voice go, "Hope? You in there?"

I recognized the voice as Janna and sighed in annoyance. I opened my window and Janna slowly made her way inside my room. For some reason, she had a rope around her skinny waist.

"What the h-", I started, but Janna interrupted me.

"Hold on light weight", Janna said as turned away from me and started pulling on the rope. Within seconds, Leah poked her head through the window and smirked at me. It felt like my heart had actually stopped beating when I saw her, then it resumed beating, only a thousand times faster.

Once Leah was fully in the room, I got a glimpse of what she was wearing, and I blushed darkly. She was wearing black jeans shorts that revealed her long legs and a hand cut shirt that revealed her tone belly.

Leah's smirk turned into a frown when she looked at my hair. "Why is your hair brown again?", she asked.

I nervously responded, "My parents would've made me died it back anyway."

Leah and Janna rolled their eyes as they jumped onto my bed. "Why are you watching 'friends'? What are you a nineties hipster?", Janna said with a chuckle.

I rolled my eyes, "Don't judge me. What are you two doing here?"

Leah lazily threw a pillow at me and sarcastically asked, "Is it so wrong for a girl to visit her girlfriend and see how she's doing?"

"No", I responded, "But you would normally call me if you wanted to check up on me."

Leah smirk returned, "So smart. The real reason we're here is because Janna is pissed off at a teacher that gave her an F. Because of that F, Janna's mother took her cheap ass flip phone away."

"Hey", Janna said punching Leah in the arm, "It might just be a cheap ass flip phone, but it's _my_ cheap ass flip phone."

Leah rolled her eyes and faced me again, "Basically, we are going to egg the old fuck's house. And you're coming with us."

My eyes went wide with panic and disbelief when she said this. "Excuse me?", I asked looking at her like she had lost her mind, "What makes you think I'm going with you."

"Because if you do, I'll give you a kiss", Leah said with an award winning smile.

"You kiss me all the time", I said with an annoyed groan.

Leah stood up and put a hand through my hair, "True, but you like it, don't you?"

I lightly pushed her away, slightly blushing and annoyed, "Of course I do, but it's gonna take a lot more than a kiss from my partner to get me to help you two fools vandalize an innocent man's house."

Janna groaned and leisurely rolled onto her side to face me, "You suck."

"Well than stop complaining and get off my bed", I said as I attempted to pull her off my bed, and failed.

"All we need you to do is keep watch, okay Withered Hope?", Janna said.

Leah chuckled, "Withered Hope? Cute."

I blushed and ignored her, "But what if he sees me? And what if my parents find out that I'm gone?"

"First, you and and I both know that your parents never check on you. Second, I'm not gonna let you get in trouble, if you get caught, I'll do and say anything to make sure that you don't get in trouble because of something I did. So, what do you say?"

I groaned and pinched my nose as I finally gave in. "Fine. I'll go", I said feeling a little deflated, "But before we go, I have to put on a fresh pair of cl-"

Janna interrupted me by throwing one of my shirts at my face, followed by a pair of my jeans. "Hurry up Withered Hope", Janna said as she exited the room through the same window she came in through.

"Don't keep us waiting, okay?", Leah said as she followed Janna.

I quickly put on the new set of clothes, turn off my television and lights, and positioned my pillows to make it look like I was sleeping in bed. I cautiously exited my window and made sure that it remained slightly opened so I could get back in.

"Hurry up!", Janna yelled. I mumbled a swear word under my breath and slowly made my way down the roof. Luckily, my house isn't that big at all, so jumping down was easy.

"Took you long enough", Janna said as soon as my feet touched the ground.

"Will you stop bullying her?", Leah asked, "You're starting to annoy me."

Janna rolled her eyes, "I'm not bullying her. I'm just showing her some tough love."

"Can we please just go?", I said as my stress levels began to go through the roof, "I really don't want to risk getting in trouble with my parents."

"His house is just two blocks away", Leah said as we began to walk, "You have the eggs, right Janna?"

To my horror, Janna stuck a hand in her pants and pulled out a carton of eggs.

"Why would you keep it in your pants?", I asked, "Just, why?"

"I was climbing up to your window!", Janna exclaimed, "I needed a free hand didn't I?"

"What happened to just throwing stones at windows like normal people?", I asked.

"I like manual labor okay?", Janna said defensively.

Before either of us could say anything else, Leah put her arm out in front of us and stopped us from walking. At first I thought it was because she wanted us to stop talking, but then I noticed that she was looking off to the side.

I looked at where she was looking and I saw the silhouette of someone walking on the sidewalk. I couldn't make out the face of the person for they had a black hood on.

"What is it?", Janna asked.

Leah didn't respond. All she did was eye the stranger a little pit before finally saying, "Marco? Is that you?"

* * *

 **Marco's POV**

I stopped in my tracks as my body tensed up. I turn to my right and saw Janna, Leah, and Hope on the other side of the street. They started to walk to me. My eyes went wide and I silently prayed that they didn't ask why I was out so late at night.

Once they all made it over, Hope immediately asked, "Why are you out so late?"

Fuck my life. "I could ask you the same thing", I answered back.

"We were just going throw eggs at a teacher that gave me a failing grade", Janna answered sounding a little annoyed, "Although it seems like we're never going to do it now."

"You never answered Hope", Leah said, "What are you doing outside so late? And without Star no less."

"What am I? Star's keeper?", I asked rhetorically.

"Yes", Leah said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes and said, "Alright fine, I couldn't get to sleep, so I decided to go for a walk."

Well, it wasn't a total lie.

"Well, would you like to accompany us in vandalizing Mr. Rick's house?", Leah asked, "I'm sure you have a good arm."

I stiffened up a bit and said, "I would, but I don't wanna get in trouble. My mother would skin me alive."

Janna rolled her eyes, "Jesus, you and Hope are such pussies."

As much as I didn't like being called a female body part, I had something important to take care of, so I ignored the comment and lazily waved goodbye to the girls. I began to go on my way. I breathed a quiet sigh of relief when I heard Hope ask, "Are you hiding something from us?"

I turned back and kept my cool, "No? Why would you think that?"

"Well", Hope began, "You are wearing a black hoodie when you usually where a red one. It's like you're trying to blend in and be unnoticed. Also, you seem to be hiding something in your hoodie", she said pointing in my hoodie pockets.

She had picked up on the fact that I hadn't taken my hands out my pocket for the duration of our short conversation. Clever girl.

"I'm not hiding anything in here", I said feigning innocence, "My hands are just really cold."

"It's seventy degrees out here", Hope said obviously seeing through my pathetic attempt at a lie, "How are your hands cold?"

"I just have cold hands, okay?", I said. Well, that didn't fucking help. While I was getting ready to run away, Janna forcefully pulled my arm out of my hoodie, resulting in the items I had falling to the ground.

The girls gasped as they saw the items. It was a small bottle of gasoline and a box of matches. Leah picked up the items and asked, "Were you going to set something on fire?"

I rolled my eyes, "No Leah, I was going to fix a fucking jelly donut."

Leah was about to retort back with something, but Hope beat her to the punch, "So you admit that you were gonna set something on fire. Do you know how serious of an offense arson is?! Not even Janna is that crazy!"

"Well actually-"

"Shut up Janna!", everyone said silencing her. Janna turned away and mumbled swear words under her breath.

Hope turned back to me, she was more serious than I had ever seen her, "You are not leaving until you explain yourself."

"What exactly is their to explain Hope?", I said becoming more annoyed, "I was gonna burn some shit and laugh while I did it. What about that don't you understand?"

"What were you gonna burn?", Hope asked.

"None of your damn business", I responded.

"Hey", Leah said getting in between the two of us, "She asked you a question, now fucking answer it."

"I did answer it", I said getting in her face, "And my answer was, 'None of your mother fucking God damn business!"

Leah forcefully grabbed me by my shirt collar and looked me dead in the eye, "I don't know what the hell your problem is Diaz, but I will not hesitate to beat the living shit out if you."

As I looked into her eyes, I could see that she wasn't as made as she sounded, but she seemed to be worried and annoyed at best. "Listen, what I do in my free time is my business and my business alone. I don't have to tell you anything", I said pushing her away from me.

"Hello?"

We all turned to Hope and saw that she was on her phone. "Oh what?", I said annoyed, "You're calling my mom now?

"Hi Jackie, I didn't mean to wake you, I just wanted to tell you that we found Marco outside by himself and he had gasoline and matches with him", Hope said into the phone.

My eyes went wide and my heart stopped once again as Hope stopped talking and listened to whatever Jackie was saying. If there's anyone I didn't want to be angry with me, other than my mother of course, it was Star or Jackie.

Hope handed the phone to me, "She wants to speak to you."

I snatched the phone away from her and groaned, "What?"

"Come home", Jackie deadpanned.

"Jackie-"

"No!", she said a lot more forcefully, "I know what you're trying to do and it's stupid and dangerous. Just let them escort you home. Please."

I wanted to use all the power in my lungs to scream some sense into her, I wanted to get down on my knees and beg Jackie to let me help her, but I was too tired and worn out. "Fine", I said before hanging up the phone.

I sighed before turning to Hope and in the most deflated voice possible I said, "She wants you to walk me home."

 **Author's Note: I hope this chapter was worth the wait. I'm sorry it took so long, but school is a pain in the ass.**


End file.
